Why flatten a pdf

No registration is needed to access our online PDF tools. Filling and submitting forms online used to be a pain a decade back. You had to print a blank form out, enter all the information by hand, scan it, save it as a PDF or image, and then attach it to an online system or an email.

Nowadays, PDF forms are widely available to fill and save. The only concern you have is to ensure that these forms are not tempered - by flattening them. Doing so will render all the interactive elements checkboxes, checklists, buttons into one flat PDF.

By following the indicated procedure, you are essentially transferring the data presented on the PDF into a flat image. This process would also remove layers, as well as additional elements that would display once you trigger it, i. This ensures that your information cannot be changed, once viewed by another party. Flattening PDFs is essential when you are submitting forms, to guarantee that no one can accidentally adjust the data stored. Depending on the information stored on a document and what is not retained after you flatten it, the size may or may not drop considerably.

Either way, you can use our popular online compressor to reduce the size of the PDF after you flatten it. The process is pretty much the same.

There are also iOS and Android versions so you can work on the go or from anywhere, even do remote work from home without missing a beat. Buy PDFelement right now! Margarete Cotty. Try It Free. Margarete Cotty chief Editor. Other Popular Articles From Wondershare. Flattening prevents this. Some PDF applications may not display certain types of annotations accurately.

A common misconception is that once flattened, a PDF can no longer be edited. The truth is that you can still mark up and select objects in a flattened PDF, including bitmap images such as signatures, provided you have a PDF editor such as PDFpen.

Instead, use the Scribble tool to sign, then flatten the PDF. Sign up or log in Sign up using Google. Sign up using Facebook. Sign up using Email and Password. Post as a guest Name. Email Required, but never shown. The Overflow Blog.

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