How to Print a PDF with Sticky Notes and Comments Visible
Question details
The user wants to print a PDF document while ensuring that the sticky notes and comment text are fully visible on the printed page.
- Product
- Adobe Acrobat
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Printing an annotated PDF for physical review or offline documentation.
- Observed behavior
- By default, when printing a PDF, sticky notes and pop-up annotations do not appear on the paper, showing only the base document content.
Make sure your printer is connected properly and review all the comments in your PDF to ensure no sensitive or private annotations are accidentally printed.
Use Print with Comments Summary
This method creates a clear, organized printable version of your PDF containing all sticky-note text and their specific locations.
Using the Comments Summary feature is the most reliable way to ensure all annotations are visible without overlapping important document text.
Launch Adobe Acrobat and open the PDF document that contains your sticky notes and comments.
Navigate to the top menu and select 'Comments', then choose 'Print with Comments Summary' or 'Summarize Comments' depending on your version.
Select your preferred layout for how the comments should be displayed (e.g., side-by-side or document and comments on separate pages).
Proceed to print the document, or choose 'Print to PDF' to flatten the comments into a brand new digital file.
Enable Print Notes and Pop-ups via Preferences
A built-in preference setting allows you to force pop-up notes to print exactly as they appear over the document on your screen.
Easily Print PDFs with Comments using WPS Office
WPS Office provides a highly intuitive and free PDF editor that allows you to easily view, manage, and print PDFs with all sticky notes and annotations perfectly visible.
- 1. Open your PDF in WPS: Download and launch WPS Office, then open your annotated PDF file using the WPS PDF tool.
- 2. Access the Print Menu: Click on the Print icon in the top toolbar or press Ctrl+P to open the Print dialog window.
- 3. Adjust Print Content Settings: In the Print settings window, locate the 'Print Content' section.
- 4. Include Markups: Select the option for 'Document and Markups' to ensure all sticky notes and comments are included.
- 5. Preview and Print: Check the print preview to verify that your comments are visible, then click the 'Print' button.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do my sticky notes not show up when I print my PDF?
By default, PDF readers print only the main document content to save ink and space. You must explicitly change your print settings to include 'Document and Markups' or generate a 'Comments Summary' to print the notes.
Can I print just the comments without the PDF text?
Yes, in many PDF editors, you can select 'Comments Only' in the print dialog under the 'Comments and Forms' dropdown. This will print a list of your annotations without the main document pages.
How do I fix scaling issues when printing a cropped PDF with comments?
If your PDF editor remembers the original uncropped page size when summarizing comments, the best workaround is to 'Print to PDF' immediately after cropping. This flattens the file and forces the software to recognize the new page dimensions before you generate the comments summary.
How can I flatten comments into the PDF so they always show?
You can flatten comments by choosing to 'Print to PDF' while the 'Document and Markups' setting is enabled. This creates a new, flattened PDF file where the sticky notes are permanently embedded into the page image.
