Is flattening the same as printing to PDF?

Similar result, but flattening keeps the text layer and vector graphics, while “print to PDF” may rasterise pages or drop links.

Can I unflatten a PDF?

No. Keep the interactive original if you may need to edit the fields later.

Does it affect digital signatures?

A cryptographic signature is invalidated by any change, including flattening. Flatten first, then sign.

PDF Tools

Flatten PDF

Turn interactive fields, signatures and comments into fixed page content. The result looks identical but cannot be altered by clicking into a field.

Runs in your browser — files never leave your device.

Drop PDF file here

or click to browse · paste from clipboard · up to 100 MB

Select file

About Flatten PDF

Filled forms sent as-is can be edited by the recipient, and some viewers show empty fields because they do not render appearance streams. Flattening fixes both problems.

Flattening also removes the form’s JavaScript and field logic, which makes the file smaller and compatible with strict portals that reject interactive PDFs.

How it works

Drop PDF file onto the box above, click it to browse, or paste from the clipboard.
Check the file list; remove anything you added by mistake.
Press Convert. The work happens on your device, so speed depends on your computer or phone.
Download the result.

About the format

PDF · Portable Document Format · .pdf

The fixed-layout document standard: looks the same on every device and printer, which is why forms, invoices, contracts and reports are shared as PDF.

A PDF can contain vector text, embedded fonts, images, form fields, annotations and digital signatures.
Scanned PDFs are just pictures of pages; they need OCR before the text can be searched or copied.
PDF is an open ISO standard (ISO 32000) since 2008.

Related conversions

Fill PDF FormOn-deviceType into PDF form fields and save the result.Sign PDFPopularOn-deviceDraw or type a signature and place it on the page.Protect PDFOn-deviceEncrypt a PDF with a password (AES-256).Merge PDFPopularOn-deviceCombine several PDFs into one, in the order you choose.Split PDFPopularOn-deviceCut a PDF into separate pages or page ranges.Rotate PDFOn-deviceTurn pages the right way up and save the PDF.