How to Flatten PDF with Adobe Acrobat

Flattening a PDF file enables you to merge all the contents of the file into one single unit. Though in Adobe Acrobat flatten PDF process, the final product is un-editable and cannot be modified further but this reduces the size of the file. Hence, flatten PDF should always be done at the end. The significance of Adobe flatten PDF files is the fact that it secures your file and locks all the elements of your file.

Though there are several tools in the market that can allow the user to flatten the document. But the most commonly used is Adobe Acrobat for its simplicity and ease of use. Also, it is compatible with both Mac and Windows. Here, in this article, we will introduce how to flatten PDF with Adobe acrbat and its alternative.

How to Flatten PDF with Adobe Acrobat

For Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional or Later:

1. Make a backup copy of your PDF file.
2. Open the copy and choose Advanced>PDF Optimizer.
3. Select Discard User Data.
4. Select Discard Hidden Layer Content and Flatten Visible Layers.
5. When prompted, save the Optimized PDF with another new name.
6. Open the Layer Panel.
7. Click the Options pop-up menu, and then select either Merge Layers or Flatten Layers.
8. Save the PDF file and try to print it.

For Adobe Acrobat 7 Professional:

1. Make a backup copy of your PDF file.
2. Open the copy and choose Advanced > PDF Optimizer.
3. Click the Clean Up tab.
4. Select Remove Hidden Layers Content and Flatten Layers.
5. When prompted, save the Optimized PDF with another new name.
6. Open Layer Panel, and then select either Merge Layers or Flatten Layers.
7. Save the PDF file and try to print it.

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How to Flatten PDF with Adobe Acrobat Alternative - PDFelement Pro

Other than Acrobat Flattening, other options are also available in market including Nitro Pro, Auto Cad, PDFelement Pro and several other online sites. In the options available, PDFelement ProPDFelement Pro offers the best experience. It is more efficient as it enables user to edit PDF files with same ease as that of Word files. And you add annotations and notes for ease, with the advanced Optical Character Recognition feature. It is much easy to create, fill forms and secure on PDFelement Pro.

The process is relatively easy and needs following steps to be followed:

Step 1. Download PDFelement Pro

Download the best alternative to Adobe Acrobat to flatten PDF.

Step 2. Open PDF file

Click on the 'Open File' button to open the PDF file you need to flatten. Only one second, the PDF file will open in PDFelement Pro. You can edit it, annotate it and add watermark to the PDF. If you need to fill PDF form, go to 'Form' and the you can fill the PDF form table.

Step 3. Flatten PDF

Go to the 'Home' tab on the top toolbar, click 'Flatten PDF' > 'OK', and only seconds the PDF file is flattened. Flatten PDF is important where the user needs to lock his input so that if he needs to export the file, the contents appear without any error and retain transparency. It makes a document suitable enough to be shared, distributed or printed.

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