How do you create a "flat" PDF file in Acrobat X for Mac?

Report · Dec 30, 2011

I'm using Adobe Acrobat X on a Mac.

I have made some edits to a PDF by adding text and lines. I want to save the file as a flat file so that no one can delete/edit my edits. In Windows, you can just print the PDF to PDF. When I try to do this on a Mac, it says "Saving a PDF file when printing is not supported. Instead, choose File > Save."

When I just choose File > Save, it just saves the PDF in the same format that allows those edits to be changed.

Report · Dec 30, 2011

Go to Tool menu > Print Production look for Flatner Preview, see if you can flatten from there.

Report · Dec 30, 2011

Check out this nifty JavaScript-based utility that allows you to flatten pages, converting annotations to regular page contents: http://www.uvsar.com/projects/acrobat/flattener/

You can also flatten annotations with PDF Optimizer and Preflight, or the following JavaScript executed in the interactive JavaScript console:

// Flatten all pages in the document

flattenPages();

Report · Jun 14, 2013

This is a great utility---thanks for sharing it! The Javascripts folder can be hard to find--here's what worked for me:

For Macbook Pro users using Acrobat Pro X with OS X version 10 or greater, you’ll want to copy the unzipped “UVSAR_selectiveFlatten.js” file into the JavaScripts folder located in this path:

/Applications/Adobe Acrobat X Pro/Adobe Acrobat Pro.app/Contents/Resources/JavaScripts

*** IMPORTANT: To be able to see the Contents folder, you must Right-Click (Ctrl-Click if you don't have a right button) on the filename "Adobe Acrobat Pro.app", then select Show Package Contents from the pop-down menu. The Contents folder will appear in a new window and you can navigate to Contents/Resources/JavaScripts, and put the “UVSAR_selectiveFlatten.js” into the JavaScripts folder.

Once you've done that, restart Acrobat Pro and you'll find the "Flatten" option in your Edit menu. VERY handy! Tip: might want to save your original PDF file as a different version just to be safe---once you flatten the PDF, it can't be undone, so either just print and don't save, or save as different version if need be.