Flatten Form Fields

Updated on Feb 19, 2026

Product Version	Product	Author
2020.1.316	RadPdfProcessing	Martin Velikov

Description

How to flatten Form Fields.

Solution

In R2 2021 this can be achieved with a single method of the AcroForm. Check the Flatten Form Fields topic for more details.

This could be achieved by iterating the RadFixedPage`s Annotations and if the type of the annotation is Widget to flatten its appearance.

csharp

	public static void FlattenFormFields(RadFixedDocument document)
	{
		if (document.AcroForm.FormFields.Count == 0)
		{
			return;
		}
		
		foreach (RadFixedPage page in document.Pages)
		{
			List<Widget> widgetsToRemove = new List<Widget>();
			FixedContentEditor pageEditor = new FixedContentEditor(page);

			foreach (Annotation annotation in page.Annotations)
			{
				if (annotation.Type == AnnotationType.Widget)
				{
					Widget widget = (Widget)annotation;
					FlattenWidgetAppearance(pageEditor, widget);
					widgetsToRemove.Add(widget);
				}
			}

			foreach (Widget widget in widgetsToRemove)
			{
				page.Annotations.Remove(widget);
			}
		}

		foreach (FormField field in document.AcroForm.FormFields.ToArray())
		{
			document.AcroForm.FormFields.Remove(field);
		}
	}

	private static void FlattenWidgetAppearance(FixedContentEditor pageEditor, Widget widget)
	{
		FormSource widgetAppearance = GetWidgetNormalAppearance(widget);
		pageEditor.Position.Translate(widget.Rect.Left, widget.Rect.Top);
		pageEditor.DrawForm(widgetAppearance, widget.Rect.Width, widget.Rect.Height);
	}

	private static FormSource GetWidgetNormalAppearance(Widget widget)
	{
		FormSource widgetAppearance;
		switch (widget.WidgetContentType)
		{
			case WidgetContentType.PushButtonContent:
				widgetAppearance = ((PushButtonWidget)widget).Content.NormalContentSource;
				break;
			case WidgetContentType.SignatureContent:
				widgetAppearance = ((SignatureWidget)widget).Content.NormalContentSource;
				break;
			case WidgetContentType.VariableContent:
				widgetAppearance = ((VariableContentWidget)widget).Content.NormalContentSource;
				break;
			case WidgetContentType.TwoStatesContent:
				TwoStatesButtonWidget twoStatesWidget = (TwoStatesButtonWidget)widget;
				widgetAppearance = GetTwoStatesWidgetNormalAppearance(twoStatesWidget);
				break;
			default:
				throw new NotSupportedException(string.Format("Not supported widget content type {0}", widget.WidgetContentType));
		}

		return widgetAppearance;
	}

	private static FormSource GetTwoStatesWidgetNormalAppearance(TwoStatesButtonWidget twoStatesWidget)
	{
		FormField field = twoStatesWidget.Field;
		bool isOnState;

		switch (field.FieldType)
		{
			case FormFieldType.CheckBox:
				CheckBoxField checkBox = (CheckBoxField)field;
				isOnState = checkBox.IsChecked;
				break;
			case FormFieldType.RadioButton:
				RadioButtonField radio = (RadioButtonField)field;
				RadioButtonWidget radioWidget = (RadioButtonWidget)twoStatesWidget;

				if (radio.ShouldUpdateRadiosInUnison)
				{
					isOnState = radio.Value != null && radio.Value.Value.Equals(radioWidget.Option.Value);
				}
				else
				{
					isOnState = radio.Value == radioWidget.Option;
				}
				break;
			default:
				throw new NotSupportedException(string.Format("Not supported field type {0} for TwoStateButtonWidget", field.FieldType));
		}

		FormSource widgetAppearance = (isOnState ? twoStatesWidget.OnStateContent : twoStatesWidget.OffStateContent).NormalContentSource;

		return widgetAppearance;
	}