Flattening PDF Annotations

PDF files can contain two different types of data -- graphics and annotations.  Graphics are static images -- text, vector drawings, or raster images.  Annotations are interactive objects that have a graphic associated with them.  Stamps, redline comments, sticky notes, digital signatures, and form fields are all examples of annotations.

Annotations differ from static graphics in several ways:

• Often an annotation has some sort of action associated with it -- double-clicking a redline comment, for instance, will open up a note that is linked to that redline.  Interactive PDF documents, similar in many ways to web sites, can be created using these features.
• Annotations are easily changed.  Redlines may be deleted from a PDF file, for instance, without modifying the rest of the drawing.  Stamps and form fields may be repositioned anywhere on the page by clicking and dragging them around. 
• Some types of annotations (redlines, notes, and stamps) are called "comments" in the Acrobat documentation.  These comments have the peculiarity that unless the Comments box is checked in the Print dialog box, they will not be printed.  

Although the interactive features of annotations can be very useful in some situations, at other times it may be desirable to disable this interactivity and turn the annotation into a simple graphic that cannot be changed or deleted so easily.  This is called "flattening" the annotation.

Although flattening is supported by Acrobat, for some reason it is not included in the default menus.  A very short Javascript program is needed to enable this feature.  To install the flatten function for Adobe Acrobat, follow these instructions:

• Exit from Acrobat if it is open.
• Download the Javascript program by clicking here.
• At the File Download dialog box, click Save and browse to C:/Program Files/Adobe/Acrobat 5.0/Acrobat/Javascripts/ and save the file in this directory.
• Restart Acrobat
• There will now be two new menu items under the Document menu in Acrobat.  Flatten page will flatten and embed all annotations (form fields, stamps, markups, notes, digital signatures) on the current page.  Flatten document will do the same for the entire document.

After annotations have been flattened, they will lose all their interactivity and other special features and will become static graphics.  It may be a good idea to save an un-flattened copy of the document if there is a chance that changes will need to be made to these annotations later.

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