Comments and annotations in a PDF can print, depending on a print flag stored with each annotation and on how the software printing the file treats markups. You cannot count on the printer leaving them out, and some services, Amazon KDP among them, ask for files with no comments or annotations at all. ProofSlip, a Windows app from Automata Labs, flags printable comments as part of its print PDF checks, and flags comments and tracked changes in Word manuscripts, so you find them before the printer or the upload does.
Check a print PDF for leftover comments and more before you send it.
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What counts as a comment or annotation?
In a PDF, comments are a kind of annotation: objects that sit on top of the page rather than in the page content. Common ones in print files:
- sticky notes and text boxes from a proofing round,
- highlights, strike-throughs and underlines,
- drawn shapes, arrows and clouds marking a problem,
- stamps such as “Approved” or “Draft”,
- links and form fields, which are annotations too.
They are easy to forget because many PDF viewers can hide them, and because the person who made the final PDF may not be the person who added the notes.
Will they actually print?
It depends on two things.
The annotation’s print flag. The PDF standard, ISO 32000-1 (the PDF 32000-2008 copy Adobe publishes), defines a Print flag for each annotation: “If set, print the annotation when the page is printed. If clear, never print the annotation, regardless of whether it is displayed on the screen.”
The printing software’s settings. Adobe’s help page on printing comments in Acrobat lists the Comments and Forms choices in the Print dialog:
| Acrobat print option | What prints, per Adobe |
|---|---|
| Document | Document contents and form fields, but not comments |
| Document and Markups | Document contents, form fields, and comments |
| Document and Stamps | The document, form fields, and stamps, but no other markups |
| Form fields only | Interactive form fields, but not document contents |
So the same file can print with or without its markups depending on who prints it and how. A print shop’s or platform’s workflow makes its own choices, and you do not see them. The safe assumption is that anything left in the file might appear on paper, or might get the file returned.
What do print services say?
Requirements vary, so read your printer’s specs. One clear published example is Amazon KDP’s paperback submission guidelines, which say: “Submitted files should not contain crop marks, trim marks, bookmarks, comments, invisible objects, annotations, placeholder text, or metadata.” The same page lists files with comments and annotations among its common points of failure.
Note that the list includes bookmarks and links too. A KDP interior exported with a clickable table of contents carries link annotations, and our KDP paperback PDF checklist covers the rest of that page.
Find printable comments, rich black, hairlines and more in one report.
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How do comments end up in a final PDF?
Usually through one of these routes:
- Proofing in the PDF. The author or client marks up the proof, the designer fixes the source file, but the marked-up PDF is the one that gets sent.
- Editing the PDF directly. A late fix done as a text box on top of the page, rather than in the source file.
- Stamps. An “Approved” stamp added at sign-off and saved into the print file.
- Word comments. A manuscript exported to PDF while comments or tracked changes were still in the document and showing.
- Merged files. Pages combined from several PDFs, one of which carried notes.
How do I check and remove them?
Find them. In Acrobat, open the Comments pane to see what the file holds. Adobe’s help on deleting comments describes selecting a comment in the Comments pane and choosing Delete from its options.
Fix the source, not just the PDF. If a comment marks a real correction, make the change in the layout or Word file and export again. Deleting the note without making the fix just hides the problem.
Check the export, not the source. After re-exporting, check the new PDF. It is the file the printer receives.
Check with ProofSlip. Drop the PDF on the ProofSlip window and pick the job preset that matches it, from business cards to book interiors and paperback covers. Its PDF checks cover fonts, image resolution, colour spaces and plates; text near the trim, gutter or spine; and small text, rich black, hairlines, ink limit, white overprint, transparency and printable comments. Select a finding to see the page with the problem boxed and the trim and safe area drawn in.
For a Word manuscript, ProofSlip checks the .docx for page size and margins against your trim, tracked changes, comments and low-resolution images, so you can clean the source before you export.
ProofSlip never changes your files. It tells you what to fix in plain language; you fix it in the program that made the file.
What if I need the comments as a record?
Keep them, just not in the print file. Save the marked-up proof under a clear name, such as the job name with “proof comments”, and send a clean export to the printer. If you want the notes on paper for a meeting, Adobe’s print help describes a Summarize Comments button in the Print dialog that prints the document with a comment summary. That is a printout for you, not a file to submit.
Two files with two jobs is the simplest rule: a marked-up proof for the people who need the history, and a clean, checked PDF for the press or the upload.
A short pre-send routine
- Resolve every comment in the source file.
- Turn off markup display in Word before exporting a manuscript.
- Export a fresh PDF rather than editing the old one.
- Run the PDF through ProofSlip with the right job preset.
- Read the findings, fix, and export again if needed.
- Keep the HTML report with the job.
Our print-ready PDF checklist covers the other checks to run before sending a file.
Frequently asked questions
If I hide comments in my viewer, will they still be in the file?
Yes. Hiding comments in a viewer changes what you see, not what the file contains.
Are form fields a problem in a print file?
They are annotations too. Adobe’s print options show that whether they print is a setting. For a print file, flattening or removing them in the source program is the safer choice.
Does ProofSlip delete comments for me?
No. ProofSlip only reads your files and reports what it finds. Files never leave your PC and are never changed.
Does it check EPUB files as well?
Yes. ProofSlip checks print PDFs, EPUBs and Word manuscripts, plus book details such as ISBN check digits.
Try ProofSlip
ProofSlip is a one-time purchase in the Microsoft Store with a free trial. Run it on a file you are about to send. More detail is on the ProofSlip product page.
Catch the comment you forgot before it reaches the press.
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Acrobat is a trademark of Adobe. Kindle Direct Publishing is a trademark of Amazon. ProofSlip is not affiliated with either company.
Last updated 22 October 2026. Published by Automata Labs, a software company in Canada.