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Flatten PDF forms and annotations
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Make filled-in form fields and annotations (highlights, notes, text boxes, stamps, images) part of the page, so they can’t be edited any more and look the same in every PDF reader and printer. SumatraPDF calls this baking.
Available in pre-release 3.7
Right-click the page → Document → Bake PDF, and click Bake PDF. At a glance:
  • In SumatraPDF: Bake PDF File… (CmdPdfBake) — bakes forms and annotations into a new PDF and opens it.
  • Command line: sumatrapdf-tool bake form.pdf flat.pdf
  • Keep one kind interactive: bake -A keeps annotations, bake -F keeps form fields.
After baking:
  • Form fields are gone: the values you typed, ticked or picked are printed on the page. The PDF is no longer a fillable form.
  • Annotations are gone as annotations: they are drawn on the page and can’t be selected, moved or deleted.
  • Text from form fields and text boxes can still be selected and searched.

Bake a PDF in SumatraPDF #

  1. Open the PDF. Fill in the form or add annotations first; see Fill a PDF form and Editing annotations.
  2. Start Bake PDF in any of these ways:
    • Right-click the page → Document → Bake PDF
    • Ctrl + K, then Bake PDF File in Command Palette
  3. The Bake PDF dialog shows the source path and a destination:
    • The default is the same folder and name, made unique: form.pdf becomes form.1.pdf.
    • Edit the path, or click … to browse.
  4. Click Bake PDF. The baked PDF is written and opened in SumatraPDF. The original is not changed.
Unsaved changes (form values, annotations) are included: you don’t have to save before baking. Esc or Cancel closes the dialog.
The app always bakes both form fields and annotations. To keep one of them interactive, use the command line.

Bake from the command line #

Use sumatrapdf-tool.exe bake, or SumatraPDF.exe bake with the same arguments.
Bake form fields and annotations:
sumatrapdf-tool bake form.pdf flat.pdf
Without an output file name, the result is written to out.pdf.
Bake only the form fields; annotations stay editable:
sumatrapdf-tool bake -A form.pdf flat.pdf
Bake only the annotations; form fields stay fillable:
sumatrapdf-tool bake -F form.pdf flat.pdf
More: sumatrapdf-tool bake.

Bake before you sign #

Baking rewrites the PDF. Baking a digitally signed PDF removes the signature (with -F the signature field stays, but the signature is no longer valid). Fill in and bake first, then sign the baked copy.

Tips #

  • Bake a filled form before you email it, so the recipient sees your answers in any viewer and can’t change them.
  • Keep the unbaked PDF if you may need to change the answers later; baking can’t be undone.
  • Bake after adding a signature image so it can’t be moved or deleted.
  • Use bake -F to fix annotations in place but leave a form fillable.
  • To remove confidential content, use Redact a PDF, not baking: baking draws annotations on top of the page but removes nothing under them.

See also #

SumatraPDF documentation
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Flatten PDF forms and annotations
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