How do you send a flattened file so that others can no longer edit a fillable form?

[fredsapfi]

How do you send a flattened file so that others can no longer edit a fillable form?

[maxwithdax]

So they cannot edit the form fields? Fill out the form and then Print to PDF.

[fredsapfi]

This option is not available on the iPad or the iPhone, as far as I know.

Previously you had the option to either send as a flattened file or a copy of the original.

So I am still none the wiser.

[Discussion moved from Acrobat Reader to Acrobat Reader for iPhone and iPad

since this question is not about Acrobat Reader after all.]

[~graffiti]

The free Adobe Acrobat Reader cannot flatten a file. There's nothing you can do with Reader to keep someone from editing it. There may be a few things you can try with the full version of Acrobat.

[maxwithdax]

No problem. "....From a mobile device" would be a key piece of missing information. You would need a device that supports AirPrint.

On an iPhone that supports 3D Touch — applicable to iPhone 6s or iPhone 7 — press firmly on the preview to make it expand and fill the screen. On an older iPhone without a pressure-sensitive display, perform a pinch-out gesture instead. This means placing two fingers on the page thumbnails, and spreading your fingers apart from each other.

In full screen preview mode, tap the screen once to reveal the toolbar with the Share button.

Tap the Share button in the lower left corner of the screen. This reveals the system share sheet, displaying a variety of actions for saving the PDF based on the apps you have installed on your phone.

To save as PDF, select the Add to iCloud Drive action. This will save a copy of the printout as a PDF in your iCloud document storage, which you can then import into other apps.

- Dax

[MobileDeveloperCK · Accepted solution]

Hi fredsapfi​,

We just released Acrobat Reader 18.12.00 to the App Store on December 14, 2018.

This release offers the flattening option in Acrobat's Settings > Preferences.

Please see the following forum FAQ document for more details.

How to share a flattened copy of a PDF document

Please update to 18.12.00 and let us know if it works for you.

Thank you for your inquiry.

[amdobe]

The link does not work. Adobe, flattening a file was not only great for size reduction, but it allowed us to secure our edits so that no one could change them. Why on earth would you remove this great feature on mobile and why is it buried in a highly technical non-user-friendly format on Acrobat DC - virtually unusable.  Many folks use Adobe as a basic business tool. Not everyone is a technical designer.  

Bring back flattening as a simple option on all platforms.

[L.15D5]

Save your breath. They disable anything they can charge a fee for. Then you sign up and end up in a maze of versions and variations, and log-ins and non log-ins of the same app.

I came here looking for an answer myself. It used to be readily available.

[amdobe]

You forgot to mention that in addition to being complex and charging for
anything, their software has far and away the most conflicts with other
programs and operating systems. It should be renamed, Crash. --
Thank you,

Alan Marks
President
MDIC

[amdobe]

Hilarious. How do I edit my post to take out my signature? Replied from email and it added my signature. No Edit option.