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Participant
March 23, 2017
Answered

flatten fillable pdf created by Acrobat pro 9

  • March 23, 2017
  • 1 reply
  • 2255 views

When I receive a fillable pdf or create one from a pdf and then fill it I want to flatten it or lock it so when I send it to someone they do not see highlighted text boxes and they cannot change any filled data. I turned off in Acrobat but when you open in latest Reader the boxes are still there. Thank you for any help. I cannot find any good answers on web. Locking does not prevent changing fiedls or color on boxes.

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Correct answer Steve Cordero

If the form fields have a box, no amount of flattening will get rid of them.  You need to change the form field properties so there is no border color before flattening the form.  If you do that first then use JavaScript to flatten the form. 

The way you would do that is to:

1.  Open the JavaScript Console using Control/Command+J

2.  Type this into the JavaScript Console:

this.flattenPages();

3.  Then hit Control/Command+Return

4.  Save the file to a new name with File>Save As.

1 reply

Steve CorderoCorrect answer
Adobe Employee
March 23, 2017

If the form fields have a box, no amount of flattening will get rid of them.  You need to change the form field properties so there is no border color before flattening the form.  If you do that first then use JavaScript to flatten the form. 

The way you would do that is to:

1.  Open the JavaScript Console using Control/Command+J

2.  Type this into the JavaScript Console:

this.flattenPages();

3.  Then hit Control/Command+Return

4.  Save the file to a new name with File>Save As.