In this article, you will learn
- which prerequisites are required for this Fixup, and
- how to apply this Fixup.
1. Introduction
The Fixup Flatten or Remove Annotations is available in the application. The purpose of this Fixup is to flatten comments or Annotations within the printable area, thereby making them printable, movable, or removable. This can also significantly alter the appearance of the Print Item in some cases.
2. General
The Fixup Flatten or Remove Annotations can be used to convert comments or sticky notes in the PDF that are located within the printable area into printable objects created in RGB. The resulting RGB objects are assigned the source profile RGB, and all fonts used in the Annotations are embedded.
You can find this Fixup on the tab Data Preparation of an Article, Order or Production Job by:
- entering the name of the Fixup in the area Filter,
- activating the option Page Content in the area Category,
- activating the option Convert and Make Visible in the area Action,
- activating the option Annotation in the area Property.
3. Description
This Fixup can be used to convert Annotations created as text, shapes, lines, notes, or highlights in the print file into printable objects. Comments are normally not printed, which is why the appearance of the file can differ significantly before and after printing. However, if a comment is intended to be printed, it must be flattened first.
There are different Types of Annotations. To simplify the use of this Fixup and make it understandable even for beginners in prepress, the types have been divided into two groups. The groups are organized as follows:
Graphical and textual Annotations:
TextFree TextHighlightUnderlineStrike-throughSquiggly UnderlineLine and ArrowRectangle and CirclePolygon and PolylineStampFreehand Lines and Signatures(Ink)PopupWatermarkInsertion Mark(Caret)Print MarksRedaction
Remove all other types (not relevant for printing):
LinkSound and MovieFile AttachmentRich Media and 3DScreen
3.1. Prerequisites and Functionality
For the Fixup to perform as intended, the following requirement must be met:
- Within the printable area, there is a comment/note that should either be printed or removed.
Figure 1: The dialog of the Fixup Flatten or Remove Annotations
To flatten or remove Annotations, the following options are available:
- Templates [1] – settings selected in the dialog can be saved as a template and applied to other Articles/Print Items, as well as used within Fixup Chains and in the Operations Apply Fixups and Check Print Item and Apply Fixups.
- Options [2] – select from the dropdown menu how Annotations in the print file should be handled. The following options are available:
- Flatten all Annotations – all Annotation types in the Print Item are flattened, prepared for printing, and made visible.
- Remove all Annotations – all Annotation types in the Print Item are deleted and thus removed from the file.
- Move all Annotations outside the ImageBox – all Annotation types are moved outside the ImageBox..
- Flatten graphical and textual Annotations, move all other types outside the ImageBox – all graphical and textual Annotations are flattened, while all other Annotation types are moved outside the ImageBox.
- Flatten graphical and textual Annotations, remove all other types – all graphical and textual Annotations are flattened, while all other Annotation types are deleted from the file.
- Variable Content [3] – for Variable Content [3] , select the desired placeholder – Database Field or User-defined Field – from which the value for handling Annotations should be retrieved. The following values must be present in the selected field to trigger the respective option:
Flatten_AllRemove_AllMove_AllFlatten_Graphical_Text_Move_otherFlatten_Graphical_Text_Remove_other
3.2. Before/After
To experiment with this function, refer to the sample file "Sample_Render Comments.pdf". The file contains a comment that significantly changes the appearance of the Print Item. Therefore, the comment should also be printed.
After applying the Fixup, the file "Sample_Render Comments_End.pdf" is created, where the Annotation has been flattened and the fonts have been embedded.
Figure 2: Left: Original file in which the comment is not visible; Right: Edited file in which the comment has been flattened
Article Update: Workflow 1.20.2 – 09/2025