Specifies the resolution for gradients and Illustrator mesh objects rasterized as a result of flattening, from 72 to ppi. Gradient and mesh resolution should generally be set between and ppi, because the quality of the gradients, drop shadows, and feathers do not improve with higher resolutions, but printing time and file size increase. Converts all type objects point type, area type, and path type to outlines and discards all type glyph information on pages containing transparency.
This option ensures that the width of text stays consistent during flattening. Note that enabling this option will cause small fonts to appear slightly thicker when viewed in Acrobat or printed on low-resolution desktop printers.
Convert All Strokes To Outlines. Converts all strokes to simple filled paths on pages containing transparency. This option ensures that the width of strokes stays consistent during flattening. Note that enabling this option causes thin strokes to appear slightly thicker and may degrade flattening performance.
Ensures that the boundaries between vector artwork and rasterized artwork fall along object paths. This option reduces stitching artifacts that result when part of an object is rasterized while another part of the object remains in vector form.
However, selecting this option may result in paths that are too complex for the printer to handle. Note: Some print drivers process raster and vector art differently, sometimes resulting in color stitching. You may be able to minimize stitching problems by disabling some print-driver specific color-management settings.
These settings vary with each printer, so see the documentation that came with your printer for details. Preserves the overall opacity of flattened objects.
With this option, blending modes and overprints are lost, but their appearance is retained within the processed artwork, along with the level of alpha transparency as when you rasterize artwork using a transparent background. Generally preserves spot colors. Select this option when printing separations if the document contains spot colors and overprinted objects.
Deselect this option when saving files for use in page-layout applications. With this option selected, overprinted areas that interact with transparency are flattened, while overprinting in other areas is preserved.
The results are unpredictable when the file is output from a page-layout application. Preserve Overprint Acrobat only. Blends the color of transparent artwork with the background color to create an overprint effect. If you regularly print or export documents that contain transparency, you can automate the flattening process by saving flattening settings in a transparency flattener preset. You can then apply these settings for print output as well as for saving and exporting files to PDF 1.
In addition, in Illustrator you can apply them when saving files to earlier versions of Illustrator or when copying to the clipboard; in Acrobat, you can also apply them when optimizing PDFs. You can choose a flattener preset in the Advanced panel of the Print dialog box or of the format-specific dialog box that appears after the initial Export or Save As dialog box. You can create your own flattener presets or choose from the default options provided with the software.
You can save transparency flattener presets in a separate file. Using a separate file makes it easy to back them up or to make them available to service providers, clients, or others in your workgroup. Once you create a custom flattener preset, you can edit it in PDF Optimizer. Note: Flattener presets created in Acrobat have a different file format from the presets created in other Adobe applications, so you cannot share them between applications.
Note: To delete a custom preset, choose it from the Preset menu and press Delete. In the Flattener Preview dialog box, choose a preset from the menu, specify a page range, and click Apply.
In the Advanced Print Setup dialog box, select the Output panel on the left, and then select a preset from the Transparency Flattener Preset menu. In the Output panel, select a preset from the Transparency Flattener Preset menu. Legal Notices Online Privacy Policy. Transparency flattening Acrobat Pro Search. Adobe Acrobat User Guide. Select an article: Select an article:. On this page About flattening Flattener Preview dialog box overview Preview which areas of artwork will be flattened Transparency Flattener options About transparency flattener presets Create a flattener preset Apply a flattener preset Edit a flattener preset in the PDF Optimizer.
About flattening. Overlapping art is divided when flattened. Flattener Preview dialog box overview. Flattener Preview dialog box displays a preview of current PDF page using preview and flattener settings. Open the Flattener Preview dialog box. Preview which areas of artwork will be flattened. Display the Flattener Preview panel or dialog box :.
From the Highlight menu, choose the kind of areas you want to highlight. The availability of options depends on the content of the artwork. Select the flattening settings you want to use: Either choose a preset or, if available, set specific options. If the artwork contains overprinted objects that interact with transparent objects, in Illustrator, select an option from the Overprints menu. You can preserve, simulate, or discard overprints.
In Acrobat, choose Preserve Overprint to blend the color of transparent artwork with the background color to create an overprint effect. At any time, click Refresh to display a fresh preview version based on your settings. Depending on the complexity of the artwork, you may need to wait a few seconds for the preview image to appear. Transparency Flattener options. Highlight preview options. None Color Preview. Rasterized Complex Regions. Transparent Objects.
All Affected Objects. Highlights all linked EPS files that are affected by transparency. Highlights all patterns that will be expanded if involved in transparency.
Outlined Strokes. Transparency Flattener Preset options. Line Art And Text Resolution. The Document Message bar will of course go away too. Within the Acrobat user interface you only have the option to flatten an entire file - all comments, links, markups and form fields will be flattened throughout the document.
That may be OK for a simple form, but what if you have a couple of Text Replace comments you want to flatten and some Stamps or Highlights that you want to keep? What about flattening all the comments while keeping a set of form fields active on the same page?
The script is made available via Creative Commons Share-alike, so you can use it and modify it for personal and commercial purposes provided you do not resell the script itself as a commercial product. To install the script, open the ZIP file from the link above and extract the. To check the correct folder location for all operating systems and customized installs , open Acrobat and press CMD-J or Ctrl-J to open the interactive console, clear the contents, type app.
The path to use will be shown in the console. You can of course modify the script for your own purposes, and we've commented it to show which part does what. Restart Acrobat if you change the script, as they're only loaded when the application initializes. If the menu doesn't appear after you've changed the code, check the JS console for errors. It'll tell you the line number with the mistake on. If you're using Acrobat XI and get a crash message "An internal error occurred" when clicking the Flatten Forms and Comments menu item, then make sure you have the correct JavaScript permissions.
Widgets for Adobe Acrobat : Selective Flattener Many PDF files contain comments and markups collectively called "annotations" and form fields, placed by reviewers or filled-in and returned by a forms recipient. Well, now you can! Download The script is made available via Creative Commons Share-alike, so you can use it and modify it for personal and commercial purposes provided you do not resell the script itself as a commercial product.
Notes: Flattening cannot be undone, but the tool doesn't save the file.
