How-to: Flatten a PDF through Chrome/Browser

Objectives

• Make a copy of a PDF without the Interactive Objects (fillable text field, check-box & radio-button).

• Make a copy of a PDF file that is locked or secured.

Reasons:

- We flatten a secured/locked PDF to prevent discrepancy between the "A360 Express Signing Viewer" and the "download version/PDF viewer". Issue: A360 Express Signing Viewer won't reflect the saved value on the PDF Interactive object fields.

- A protected/secured file will fail to upload. We'll need to have a non-secured valid file type, in order to automatically convert the file to PDF and make it viewable in our A360 Express Signing Viewer.

Intended Audience

Both Internal and Clients.

Instructions

1. Search your PDF file from your local directory

2. Right Click, and choose the option “Open With“ (OR Drag the file to your Chrome browser)

3. Open the document using any browser (ex. Chrome, Firefox, Edge).

   

4. In the upper right corner, Press the Print Icon

   

5. Set the Destination to “Save as PDF“. This will create a new copy of your PDF without the interactive objects and by default “No Security“.