Flatten Form Fields and Comment using a FREE Acrobat X Action
Flattening is the process of moving editable information— form field data and comments— into the main document layer so that it cannot be edited or changed.
At left, below is an illustration of editable form and comments elements. After flattening (right), the appearance of the elements remains, but they are no lonager editable.
Many folks simply print the document to the Adobe PDF print driver to flatten a document. However, that process takes several steps and eliminates bookmarks and other information.
Why would I need to Flatten a document?
Here are a few reasons that you might want to flatten a document:
- To ensure that comments are printed
- To prevent someone from changing the text inside a PDF form
- To lock your stamp on the document
To make the flattening process easier, you can use a FREE Acrobat X Action to flatten your document.
Acrobat X Flatten Action
The Acrobat X File Name Stamper Action automates the process of flattening the document. Just open your Actions Panel and click!
How do I get the Acrobat X Action?
You can get the Action over on the Actions Exchange on AcrobatUsers.com,
Alternately, you can download it direct below.
The PDF document you download below includes:
- Installation and use instructions
- Action (embedded in the PDF)
Enjoy!
Flatten_Doc.pdf (753K)**Hint:**Right-click and Choose Save Target As . . . to save to your desktopYou will need Acrobat X Pro to run the Action
http://blogs.adobe.com/acrolaw/files/2011/02/Flatten_doc.pdf