How to Actually Unflatten PDF Documents Online and Offline

If you accidentally flattened a PDF file and you intend to restore the interactive elements, the worst thing is that either the software you used for the flattening doesn’t support unflattening, or you forgot the tool you used for the flattening.

Don’t worry, on this page, you’ll find some working methods to unflatten PDF documents and make your PDF file just like the original one effectively.

Unflatten PDFs Online for FREE

Whether you can unflatten a PDF file depends on the original tools you used to flatten the PDF, and if the tools support you unflatten it.

However, PDFgear provides a workaround to unflatten PDF files that are flattened in different software and apps, by manually inserting interactive elements.

PDFgear’s online PDF editor is a free tool that allows you to insert fillable text boxes, fillable form fields, and other interactive elements into PDF, to make your PDF fillable/interactive once more.

Moreover, with other practical PDF editing features like editing text and adding comments/sticky notes, you can further unflatten your PDF files and fillable forms to the desired level.

Step 1. Use a web browser to go to PDFgear online PDF editor. Click Upload PDF file to upload the PDF you need to unflatten.

Step 2. Click the upper-right Add and Edit Form Fields button.

Step 3. In the pop-up menubar below, click to insert fillable text boxes, passwords, checkboxes, radio buttons, dropdowns, and list boxes, to the PDF.

You can reposition these interactive elements to where the original one is flattened so that it’ll be interactive once more.

Step 4. Double-click on the fillable elements to customize its tooltip, value, visibility, multiline, show printing, etc.

Step 5. Likewise, click the upper-right Add and edit annotations button, and you can redo the comments and annotations.

Step 6. When you’re done editing, click the upper-right Download button to save the unflattened PDF offline.

How to Unflatten a PDF in Bluebeam

Bluebeam Revu has offered a direct approach to unflatten PDFs but under certain conditions, it’s one of the not many software that support direct unflattening.

If you have the Allow Markup Recovery option enabled when flattening a markup, and you haven’t done anything to the flattened areas, then the markup can be unflattened.

Step 1. Click on the Document tab in the upper menubar, and click Flatten from the dropdown.

Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + M to access the flatten menu.

Step 2. Bluebeam Revu allows you to flatten and unflatten specific parts of PDF pages, choose one from All Pages, Current, Selected, or Custom from the Pages dropdown list.

Step 3. Lastly, click Unflatten. All annotations and markups on the selected pages will be unflattened.

How to Unflatten a PDF in Adobe Acrobat

Since Adobe Acrobat Pro DC does not have a straightforward “unflatten” button, it could be a tricky job to restore interactive elements and multiple layers. The only chance is to use PDF fixups to try to recover original layers or annotations.

Step 1. Open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC.

Step 2. Go to Tools > Print Production > Preflight.

Step 3. In the Preflight dialog, select PDF fixups.

Step 4. Look for fixup options for form fields, annotations, and layers.

Additionally, the automatic OCR feature in Adobe Acrobat allows you to restore the editability of the text layer, which is helpful if you need to replace or delete PDF text: Go to “Tools” > “Enhance Scans.” > Click on “Recognize Text” and then “In This File.”

FAQs

What does it mean to unflatten a PDF?

Unflattening a PDF refers to the process of restoring a flattened PDF to its original state with editable layers and elements. This allows you to modify content that was previously merged into a single layer during flattening.

Can all flattened PDFs be unflattened?

No, not all flattened PDFs can be unflattened. It depends on the software and services you used for the flattening.

Can I unflatten a PDF for free?

PDFgear online PDF editor allows you to unflatten any PDFs for free by manually inserting interactive elements.

What happens if I edit a flattened PDF before unflattening?

Editing a flattened PDF before unflattening can prevent the document from being unflattened successfully. Actions like editing text, applying redactions, or reducing file size can permanently alter the flattened content, making it impossible to recover the original layers.

Are form fields recoverable when unflattening a PDF?

No, flattened form fields cannot be unflattened under any circumstances. Once form fields are flattened, they become permanent parts of the document and cannot be restored to their interactive state through unflattening.