Flatten PDF

Rasterize each PDF page and rebuild it as a static page image so visible form values and annotations rendered by PDF.js become part of the rebuilt result.

This is full-page raster flattening: selectable text, links, form controls, annotations, and vector content are not preserved as original interactive PDF objects.

Click to upload or drag and drop a PDF

Everything runs locally in your browser

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What This Flatten PDF Tool Actually Does

This implementation renders each source page through PDF.js, captures that rendered page as a PNG image, and builds a new PDF whose pages contain those images.

That makes the visible page much less dependent on interactive PDF features, but it is a destructive conversion. Keep the original PDF if you may need searchable text, editable forms, links, vector artwork, accessibility structure, or signature validation later.

Remove interactive editing surfaces

The rebuilt pages are images, so the output does not retain the source form controls or annotations as independently editable objects.

Make the rendered appearance static

The output stores a rendered snapshot of each page. Exact appearance can still depend on what PDF.js was able to render from the source document.

Work anywhere

The tool runs in your browser on common desktop and mobile devices without installing software, but large PDFs or high render scales can still be slow or fail on memory-constrained hardware.

How to flatten a PDF for free

  1. 1Upload the PDF you want to flatten.
  2. 2Choose a render scale if you want sharper flattened output.
  3. 3Click Flatten PDF, then download the finished file when the button switches to download mode.

What Raster Flattening Changes

Reduce file complexity

Raster flattening replaces the source page's text, vectors, links, fields, and annotation layer with a page-sized image in the new PDF.

Edit before you flatten

Make content corrections before flattening. After this conversion, the visible page is an image rather than the original editable/searchable PDF page content.

Strengthen consistency

Raster pages reduce dependence on fonts, form widgets, and annotation rendering, but they do not guarantee pixel-identical output in every PDF viewer or printer.

Keep everything local

All processing happens in your browser, so the file stays on your device while the tool works.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this preserve selectable PDF text?

No. This browser version rasterizes each page and rebuilds the PDF from the page images rendered by PDF.js. That usually captures visible form fields, annotations, and other interactive content, but unsupported or viewer-specific PDF features can still render differently.

Does this upload my PDF?

No. Processing happens locally in your browser using PDF.js, canvas, and pdf-lib.

Why is the output file larger?

The flattened PDF is rebuilt from page images. Higher render scale creates sharper output, but it can also increase the file size.

Can it fix sideways pages?

This tool is for flattening, not rotation. Use a rotate PDF tool first for pages turned 90, 180, or 270.

What documents work best?

It is most appropriate when you intentionally want a rasterized final copy of the visible pages. For digitally signed PDFs, keep the signed original: rebuilding the document changes its bytes and does not preserve the original signature validation.

Is flattening the same as secure redaction?

No. This tool rasterizes the rendered pages; it is not a dedicated redaction or sanitization workflow and does not claim to inspect every hidden or document-level data structure.

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