Flatten a Form for emailing

Hi mel7431,

See this article on how to flatten PDFs- it has instructions, the JS code used, and a free tool you can download if you are going to do this often. Caution: once you flatten the form you can't go back so make a copy if you may need the interactive one for use later.
http://blogs.adobe.com/bowman/2007/09/flatten_comments_in_a_pdf.php#more

Edit- this only works for AcroForms-created with the form tools in Acrobat. This will not work with an XFA form created with LiveCycle Designer.

Hope that helps,

Dimitri
WindJack Solutions
www.windjack.com

Dropping the "flatten.js" file in "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 8.0\Acrobat\Javascripts" did not create the flatten options under the "Documents" menu. I have rebooted but still no luck. I have Acrobat 8 Pro. Thanks for your help.

*EDIT*
Using the script from Thom PArker of WindJack Solutions, which adds the button, works. I just had to enable it by right clicking on the toolbar and selecting "More Tools". I scrolled down and checked "Java Script" and it appeared. Phew!

Hi,

I have looked all over the web for an answer to this question using dozens of combinations in google with no luck. I am using Acrobat Pro 8.1.2 on a Mac PowerBook G4 running OS 10.5.7.

So, let's see if I can explain. I am on the client end of a form with many fields. I believe it is an XFA form, because the JS scripts for flattening images do not flatten the form objects. Our IT department has taken online input and converted it into pdf format so that it looks like a housing application for a College dorm. The objects are mostly text objects, with a few image objects. I would like to flatten the document so that nothing is editable, but I can still insert comments and annotations over it, just like it's an image. I want to merge all the objects into the background. I don't have access to LiveCycle or Output Service or any of the server-side applications. Can anyone help?

Thanks,
Sue

One can add the following code to the [url=www.PDFScripting.com]PDFScripting.com[/url] download and add the '*Flatten Pages' to the 'Document' menu item.

Thank you for your reply. As I mentioned in my earlier note, the JS scripts don't work for what I am trying to do. I don't need to flatten the annotations. I need to flatten the text objects that were used to create the PDF in the first place. Does anyone know how to do this?

You can use security to lock the permissions for the PDF with a password for various actions. Select "File => Properties" form the menu bar. Then select the "Security" tag and select the "Password Security" for the "Security Method". Now check the "Permissions" box and enter your password, and select the "Printing Allowed" option and the "Changes Allowed" options. Click "OK" and you will be prompted to confirm your password. Now you will need to save and close the PDF for the security to become affective."Flattening" refers to making comments and form field data an uneditable part of the PDF.