PDF Bench
Quick clean vs flattened copy: which one should you use?
The Sanitize tool gives you two choices. Quick clean strips hidden metadata while keeping your PDF mostly intact. Flattened copy goes further by rebuilding every page as an image. Picking the right one depends on what you're sharing and who you're sharing it with.
Choose quick clean when
- You mainly want to remove author info, timestamps, embedded files, and similar extras.
- You want to keep the text searchable and selectable.
- The file is going to colleagues or trusted parties, not out into the world.
Choose flattened copy when
- You want the strongest possible cleanup — flattening removes hidden structure entirely.
- You're sharing outside your organization or posting something publicly.
- You're okay with a larger file and losing the ability to search or select text.
How to verify your results
- Compare the before-analysis and after-analysis panels to see what was removed.
- Open the final file in a separate viewer to confirm it looks right.
- Make sure the output still works for whoever you're sending it to — can they read it, search it, print it?