Flatten PDF
Flatten a PDF by rasterizing pages so annotations and forms become static. Free and private in your browser, no upload.
Turn interactive PDFs into static pages
Flattening rasterizes every page so filled forms, stamps, and annotations become part of the picture. Recipients see a fixed document that cannot be tweaked field-by-field — processed locally with no upload.
What you can do with it
- Lock a filled form before filing
- Flatten after filling so field values cannot be changed later.
- Share a comment-proof copy
- Bake review markups into the page image for a final handoff.
How to flatten a PDF
- Open your PDF — it loads locally with no upload.
- Click Flatten & download.
- Save the static PDF.
Flatten vs fill-and-flatten
Fill & Flatten fills AcroForm fields then optionally flattens them. This Flatten tool rasterizes entire pages — including annotations and visual content — into image pages. Use it when you need a completely static visual PDF.
Trade-offs
Text stops being selectable and file size may grow. Prefer vector edits (remove annotations, fill forms) when you can keep structure.
Related reading and tools
- Fill & flatten PDF forms — Fill fields first, then flatten just the form layer.
- Remove annotations — Strip markups without rasterizing pages.