Workiva Support Center

Fix Invalid PDF Tag warning

Below is an example of a warning message that you may receive when testing/live filing.

INVALID_PDF_TAG -In xxxfilename.pdf: found an invalid PDF tag (EXTERNAL REFERENCE URI FOUND) / (ATTACHED FileSpec OBJECT/EXECUTABLE).

To fix this warning, create a different version of the same PDF, by "flattening" it. 

1. Open your existing PDF document in your PDF reader of choice (Adobe Pro, Adobe Acrobat Reader, web browser, etc.)
2. Click File > Print (Ctrl+P) or just click the Print button.
3. Choose 'Microsoft Print to PDF' or Adobe PDF as your printer.
4. Click Print.
5. Enter a name for flattened PDF.
6. Click Save. Your new document should be a flattened PDF.