Fix a filled-in form on the page
A fillable PDF keeps its answers in form fields: anyone can click into them and change a name, tick another box or clear a date. Flattening draws the current values onto the page itself and removes the fields. The PDF then looks exactly as before, but it behaves like a printed sheet. That is the usual last step before you send a signed application, an invoice or a contract.
Flatten a form in four steps
- Choose the PDF or drop it on the page. Nothing is uploaded.
- Read the list of fields the tool found, with their type and current value, and check that the answers are what you want to keep.
- Leave Redraw the fields from their values first ticked unless you know the stored appearances are right.
- Press Flatten and save PDF and download the result.
What changes and what stays
- Text fields, checkboxes, radio buttons, dropdowns and lists become part of the page and can no longer be edited.
- The text of the PDF, bookmarks, links and comments stay as they were.
- The file keeps its number of pages and its page size.
- The original file on your device is never touched; the result is a new file.
Cases that need care
If the PDF contains a digital signature, flattening it breaks the signature, so flatten first and sign afterwards. Some government and tax forms use XFA, an older form technology whose content is not part of the normal page; this tool tells you when it finds one and leaves it untouched. A form that looks filled in but lists no fields has probably been flattened already, or was never fillable.
Your form data stays with you
Names, addresses and numbers in a form are personal. Reading, redrawing and saving all happen in your browser, and nothing is sent to a server.