Flatten PDF
A filled form is still a form: the values sit in interactive fields that any reader can edit, and some readers do not print them at all. Flattening writes them into the page content, so what you see is what everyone sees.
Field values are drawn into the page content and the form definition is dropped, so the document prints identically everywhere. Text, vectors and images are untouched and stay selectable.
Anything with form fields, comments or annotations is a candidate. The file is read on your device.
Flatten form fields keeps the page as vector content and only bakes in the interactive parts. Flatten everything re-renders each page as an image.
Field values are drawn into the page and the field definitions are dropped.
The result looks identical and behaves like a printed sheet.
Flattening form fields preserves everything else — the text stays selectable and the file stays small. Flattening everything turns each page into a JPEG, which guarantees nothing survives but also destroys the text layer, links and accessibility structure. Pick the first unless you specifically need the second.
Field values live in appearance streams that a reader is free to regenerate — or not. Some viewers print the blank form. Once the values are part of the page content there is nothing left to interpret.
Flattening stops casual editing, not a determined one. Anyone can draw over a flattened page or run it through OCR. It is the right tool for making a document final, not for making it secret.
A calm, fast PDF workspace. Free to use, private by default.
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