Flatten a PDF
Make filled forms, comments, stamps and signatures part of the page, so they look the same in every app and nobody can change them.
- Processed on your device, never uploaded
- Free, no sign-up, no watermark
Done
This PDF is protected. Enter its password to open it.
About Flatten PDF
This tool lets you flatten a PDF online for free. It merges filled form fields, comments, stamps and signatures into the page so they can't be changed. They still show and print, but nobody can edit, move or remove them.
It is helpful when you send a filled form to an office, a portal or a printer. Some of them ignore form fields or show them blank. Flattening makes your answers look the same everywhere. You can keep the text searchable, or turn each page into a single picture for a stronger lock.
Take a tenant who filled in a rental application and signed it. The landlord's portal shows the fields as empty. He opens the form here, picks Keep text, flattens it, and uploads the new file with every answer in place. Everything runs in your browser, and your file is never uploaded.
How to use Flatten PDF
- Drop your PDF on the page or click Choose file.
- Under How to flatten, pick Keep text or Pages as images.
- Click Flatten PDF. Fields, comments, stamps and signatures are drawn into the page.
- Download the locked PDF, or click New file to start again.
Forms and comments
Filled fields, notes, highlights, stamps, drawings and signatures all become part of the page.
Text stays real
With Keep text, words stay selectable and searchable, and links keep working.
Fully locked
Pages as images turns every page into one picture, so nothing can be edited.
Private by design
Flattened in your browser; your PDF is never uploaded.
Example
Input: rental-application.pdf with typed answers and a signature.
You choose Keep text and click Flatten PDF.
Result: a PDF where the answers and signature are part of the page, the words can still be searched, and links still work.
Flatten PDF: questions people ask
Is my file uploaded?
No. Everything runs in your browser.
What does flattening mean?
Interactive parts become ordinary page content. They still show and print, but they can't be edited, moved or removed.
Should I pick Keep text or Pages as images?
Keep text suits most files because the text stays searchable and the file stays small. Pages as images also locks the text and transparency, but the file is bigger and the text isn't searchable until you run OCR.
Is it free?
Yes. There is no sign-up and no watermark.
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