How to use the Flatten PDF
- Fill in the form completely in your usual PDF viewer and save it.
- Add the filled-in file here and press Flatten. There are no settings.
- Open the flattened copy and check every answer shows before you submit it.
What becomes part of the page
Text boxes, checkboxes, radio buttons and dropdown choices are drawn from their current values. Stamps, highlights, ink signatures and free-text notes that have their own appearance are drawn in the way your viewer shows them.
Links to websites keep working. Hidden annotations and the small windows that pop open from sticky notes are dropped, and so are any reply threads attached to a mark.
Why it matters
Different viewers can display form fields differently, sometimes in another font or even blank. A flattened page looks the same everywhere, prints as expected and keeps its answers when merged with other forms that use the same field names.
Keep the editable original as well. If an answer needs correcting later, the flattened copy has no fields left to change.
Flatten before merging or protecting
When several forms go into one bundle, flatten each of them first and then merge. Otherwise two forms that share field names, such as “Name” or “Date”, can end up showing each other’s answers.
The same order applies to passwords: flatten, then protect. A flattened, password-protected form is a common requirement for sending personal details by email.
Questions
Can the answers still be searched or copied?
In most forms, yes. Field values are drawn as text rather than as a picture.
Will the file get bigger?
Rarely by much. It can even get slightly smaller because the form definitions are removed.
Is the form uploaded?
No. Flattening runs in your browser and the copy is saved from there, which matters for tax, health or immigration forms full of personal details.
What happens to fields I left empty?
They stay empty on the page. The tool draws what is in each field at that moment and adds nothing of its own.