Flattening means taking markups (annotations, measurements, stamps, highlights, etc.) and burning them into the PDF so they become part of the base content.   After flattening, they can’t easily be selected, moved, or deleted.


When should you flatten a PDF File

  • Before uploading into Spectrum - Spectrum doesn't play with layers in PDFs.
  • Before sharing external - especially if you don't want the external partner to be able to edit your document
  • Printing - sometimes PDF files can hang when trying to print, flattening them first can help.


How to Flatten


Bluebeam

  • Open your PDF in Bluebeam Revu.

  • Go to the top menu and select:
    Document > Flatten
    (or right-click on a markup and choose Flatten).

  • A Flatten Markups dialog will appear.

    • You can choose which markups to flatten (all or only certain types).

    • There are options like Allow Markup Recovery (lets you later unflatten if needed) and Flatten only print-generated markups.

  • Click Flatten.


PDF-Xchange Editor

  • Open the PDF in PDF-XChange Editor.

  • Go to the top menu:
    File → Export → Flatten Comments and Form Fields…

  • In the Flatten Annotations dialog:

    • Choose whether to flatten all annotations, or only certain types (comments, stamps, highlights, form fields, etc.).

    • You can also exclude specific markup types if needed.

  • Click OK.