“The PDF has comments or form fields”: Removing comments and form fields from a print PDF
Comments, sticky notes, highlights, stamps and fillable form fields sit on top of a PDF page as separate objects called annotations, not as part of the artwork. Whether they print depends on the software and its settings, so the printer can’t be sure what you want: a proof note might print on every copy, or the text typed into a form field might disappear. Delete anything that shouldn’t print, flatten anything that should, or best of all, export a clean PDF again from the design file.
Updated November 8, 2026 · by Azaan Ali, print designerWhy printers ask for this
Annotations are how PDFs handle review and forms. When someone marks up a proof in Acrobat or Preview, every note, highlight, arrow, text box and “Approved” stamp is stored as an annotation, layered over the page. Form fields work the same way: the box, and whatever was typed into it, are separate from the printed design. That’s useful on screen and unpredictable in print. In Acrobat’s Print dialog, for example, the Document setting prints form fields but not comments, and Document and Markups prints both; a printer’s RIP makes its own choice.
So printers flag them rather than guess. The PDF/X print standards don’t allow annotations inside the printed area of the page, and preflight tools such as Enfocus PitStop report them there as an error. The usual causes are a marked-up proof sent back as the print file, a template downloaded as a fillable form, a flyer with a fillable coupon or order form, or a last-minute change typed onto the PDF with a comment or text-box tool instead of being made in the design.
How to remove comments and form fields from a print PDF
- Find them. In Acrobat, open the Comments panel to list every comment, and open Prepare a form (All tools → Prepare a form) to see the form fields. The free print-ready checker counts comments and form fields and lists the pages they’re on; it leaves links out of the count.
- If the comments are corrections, make the changes in the original design file and export a fresh print PDF. That clears every annotation at once and keeps the export settings your printer asked for. A new export from InDesign, Illustrator or Canva doesn’t carry review comments, so if they’re in your file, they were added afterwards.
- To delete comments in Acrobat, select one in the Comments panel, open its options (the three dots) and choose Delete. In most versions you can select several with Shift or Ctrl/Cmd and delete them together. Stamps and text boxes added in Acrobat are comments too.
- To remove form fields, open Prepare a form, select the fields and delete them. If the typed text has to print, flatten it instead: in Acrobat Pro’s Preflight (under Use print production, or Print Production in older versions), search the fixups for “Flatten annotations and form fields” and click Fix. It turns them into ordinary page content, so save a copy first and check the result.
- To strip several kinds at once, Acrobat Pro’s Sanitize document (All tools → Redact a PDF → Sanitize document) has a Selectively remove option. Tick only comments and form fields: Remove all also takes out other hidden content, which can include artwork outside the crop box.
- Avoid printing the PDF to a new PDF to flatten it. Print to PDF can drop the bleed and the trim box, change the colors and recompress the images; use it only as a last resort, and check the new file carefully.
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- Find every comment, stamp and form field, on every page
- Apply the proof corrections in the design file, then export a clean print PDF
- Flatten filled-in fields and stamps that are meant to print, and check they look right
- Keep the bleed, trim box and colors exactly as your printer asked
Questions
- Will comments in a PDF print?
- It depends on the software. Acrobat prints comments only when Comments & Forms is set to Document and Markups in the Print dialog, but a printer’s RIP has its own settings. That uncertainty is why printers ask for them to be removed.
- What does flattening a PDF form mean?
- Turning the fields, and what was typed in them, into ordinary page content, so the text becomes part of the page and can’t be changed. It’s right when the filled-in text should print; if it shouldn’t, delete the fields instead.
- Do links in a PDF matter?
- Usually not. Hyperlinks are annotations too, but they’re invisible boxes that don’t print. Strict PDF/X checks can still flag them; if your printer asks, export again with hyperlinks turned off.
- Can I send the marked-up proof as the print file?
- No. Make the corrections in the design file and export a new PDF. A marked-up proof carries every note and stamp, and the corrections themselves aren’t in the artwork yet.
Terms on this page: Preflight, PDF/X, Proof, Print-ready.
Sources: Enfocus PitStop: annotation in printable area (preflight check), Adobe Acrobat: print comments and form fields, Adobe Acrobat: sanitize PDFs and remove hidden content.
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