Some of the basic PDF viewers might be unable to display advanced annotations - in some cases, you will simply need to protect your annotations and make them stay right there, unchanged, even if someone opens your file. For this purpose, we have an option to save your file as a flattened copy.
Flattening basically makes all the active elements of the file become no longer available for a change. Thus, all the annotations added to the file get so called attached to the PDF and the transparency layer is removed while printing.
Note: As soon as you save the file as flatten, you won't be able to change the annotations, so we recommend having a master copy.
How to save the file as flatten
- Open the file.
- Tap More ... in the upper right.
- Select Save a Copy.
- Tap Flattened Copy.
- Open the file.
- Go to File in the upper left.
- Select Save as Flatten.
- Hit Save.
How to export the file as flatten
On your Mac, you can also export the file as flattened:
- Open a PDF file.
- Go to the Fill&Sign mode.
- Select Export as Flattened.
This will preserve your annotations and comments in the file after you export it.