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By ShinobiTools Team · Last updated: August 2026
A form you filled in that you don't want edited again, or a PDF whose fields render differently in every viewer. Flattening bakes every field's current value and every annotation into the page itself, so the file looks the same everywhere and can no longer be filled in. Nothing is re-compressed — the existing text and images are untouched.
A form field's value lives in a separate, editable layer on top of the page — that's what lets you type into it. Flattening draws that value as ordinary page content and removes the editable layer, the same way printing a filled-in form and scanning it back in would, except nothing is rasterised and no quality is lost.
The text and images that were already on the page are untouched. Only the interactive layer — form fields and annotations — changes from editable to fixed.
A filled-in but not flattened form still has its fields intact underneath — anyone who opens it in a PDF editor can change what's there, or a viewer that renders fields differently can show the wrong thing. Flattening removes that layer entirely, so what you see is what's actually in the page from then on.
There are no options here on purpose: every form field and every annotation on every page gets baked in and removed. If you only want some pages changed, split the document first, flatten the part you need, then merge it back.
Need to fill in a form before flattening it? Fill PDF Form lists every field and fills it in — turn on "lock the filled values" there and you can skip this tool entirely. Only need a few pages out of a bigger file first? Split PDF pulls out a range. Putting several flattened pages back into one document? Merge PDF puts them back together in order. Want a signature on the form as well, before you flatten it? Sign PDF draws, uploads or types one onto the page. Building the form from scratch, before there's anything to fill in or flatten? Create PDF Form adds the text, checkbox and dropdown fields first.
Drop the PDF in and press Flatten. The download has every form field's current value and every annotation baked into the page as regular content, with the interactive layer removed.
Any fillable field (text box, checkbox, dropdown) is replaced by its current value drawn straight onto the page, and any comment or markup annotation is baked in the same way. What was interactive becomes plain page content — it can still be read, but not filled in or edited as a form.
So the answers can't be changed after the fact. A filled-but-not-flattened form still lets anyone with a PDF editor open the fields and alter what's there. Flattening locks the values in as ordinary text and images.
No. The page's existing text and images are untouched — only the form fields and annotations change, from editable objects into fixed page content.
Yes. A flattened field's value is drawn as real text in the page content, the same as any other text on the page, so it stays selectable and searchable.
25 pages per file. There is no account, no watermark and no daily cap.