Is there an option to flatten the pdf file?

[jandetlefsen]

I'm using pypdftk in an app but researching if it's possible to move everything into client side. One option i'm using is to flatten the file, turning the form into a regular non editable pdf. Does this project offer such an option?

[cpreach]

Good point! any chance?

[smettu007]

@jandetlefsen have you come across any js lib that flattens pdf or a work around?

[phanisai4u]

@phihag and @jandetlefsen can we flatten PDF file in client side with this lib or PDFjs lib or any other ways to flatten PDF in client side?

[Scott64]

Not exactly what you're looking for (and very late to the party), but I made my filled-in fields read-only by adding a line to the transform function. At the end of the "if (n._pdfform_spec)" if/else block (and just before the line that says "var ref = n._pdfform_ref;"), I added "n.map.Ff = 1;" because page 433 of https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/pdf/pdfs/PDF32000_2008.pdf told me if I set the Ff key to 1, it'd be read-only. Seems to work for me so far.

[Zjcompt]

@Scott64 Thank you, this is a great option.

[ustincameron]

Is there any solution to this? I can't use read-only, because I'm trying to pre-fil and then let them overwrite anything before submitting the new pdf to the backend. It's not saving the user's changes, only the pre-filled data.

[zencm]

@Scott64 that would have saved me, but killed multi line fields. I think you're supposed to set a bit flag, not an integer value.
Just using n.map.Ff = n.map.Ff | (1 << 0); instead did the trick. Thanks for pointing out the docs and appropriate place - super helpful!

Not progressing this issue, but might help somebody.

[Scott64]

@zencm Thanks for the clarification, it does say "bit position" in the docs and I glossed over that and just saw "1" in my rush to find a solution. Your correction couldn't have come at a much better time because I actually need the information again for a different project 👍 Thanks! :)