This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Kyle Smith. Kyle Smith is a wikiHow Technology Writer, learning and sharing information about the latest technology. He has presented his research at multiple engineering conferences and is the writer and editor of hundreds of online electronics repair guides. Kyle received a BS in Industrial Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.
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Do you need to print or upload a flattened PDF? If you’re using a Windows PC, you can use the built-in Print to PDF feature in any PDF reader to flatten the layers in your file. On a Mac, Google Chrome has a Save as PDF option. If you need advanced flattening options, use Adobe Acrobat Pro. Flattening a PDF combines all of the layers into a single layer, making your document easier to print and share. It also makes the file size smaller and prevents changes from being made to variable fields. This wikiHow shows you how to flatten a PDF on Windows or Mac.