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Flatten PDF — Bake Annotations & Forms

re-rasterise pages · removes editable layers · in your browser

Drop one or more PDFs and the tool re-renders every page to a raster image, then wraps the images back into a fresh PDF. Annotations, comments, sticky notes, form fields, and any other editable overlays get baked in — what you see is what every viewer sees, exactly. Output is larger than the source but consistent across viewers.

Drop your PDF files here

Multiple files allowed · output is image-based

    no files
    Ready.

    No form handy? sample-form-filled.pdf arrives pre-filled — flatten it and check the values survive. More free sample files.

    When to use this tool

    Useful before sharing a "final" PDF — sticky notes and comments stop being editable, form fields stop being fillable, and any tool that strips or re-flows annotations can't accidentally remove your content. Useful too when one viewer renders annotations differently from another; flattening makes everyone see the same thing.

    How to flatten a PDF

    1. Drop the PDFs. Each becomes a re-rasterised copy of itself.
    2. Pick DPI. 150 dpi is the sweet spot for screen + occasional print; 300 dpi is press-ready.
    3. Pick format. JPEG produces the smallest files; PNG preserves text crispness better.
    4. Click "Flatten & download". Output is name-flat.pdf.

    FAQ

    Will the output have selectable text?

    No — every page becomes an image. If you need a searchable text layer back, run OCR PDF on the flattened file.

    How much larger will it be?

    Depends on source content and DPI. A text-heavy 10-page PDF can grow 5–10× at 150 dpi JPEG. PDFs that were already image-only barely change.

    Are my files uploaded?

    Never — this runs entirely in your browser via pdf.js + pdf-lib. See the privacy policy.

    Does flattening actually remove the text underneath a black box?

    Yes, and that is the point when you are redacting: after flattening, each page is a single image, so there is no text object left to select, copy or recover. That is why Redact PDF offers to do it as part of the redaction rather than leaving it as a manual second step.

    Will the file still be searchable?

    No. Flattening rasterises the pages, so the text layer is gone. If you need both — visually flat but still searchable — flatten and then run OCR to add a fresh text layer.

    What DPI should I choose?

    150 DPI is fine for screen reading, 300 for printing. Higher DPI means a sharper page and a much bigger file, since every page becomes an image at that resolution.

    Does it flatten form fields as well as annotations?

    Everything visible is baked in: form values, comments, highlights, stamps and signature images all become part of the page image.