Will the Comments and Markup Arrows in My Packaging PDF Print on the Final Cartons?

Identify whether the arrow is an annotation or artwork

A packaging proof may contain arrows pointing to a fold, a sticky note requesting a color change and a rectangle highlighting a spelling error. Those marks may be PDF annotations rather than ordinary page content.

Open the actual review PDF in Acrobat and inspect the Comments panel. Determine whether the visible marks are represented as comments or markup objects. Do not assume that every arrow-looking shape is an annotation: a designer may have drawn it directly into the page artwork.

If a mark is ordinary artwork, changing a print option that excludes comments may not remove it. If it is an annotation, its printing behavior depends on the output settings and subsequent processing.

Preserve the review file with its comments. The goal is not to erase the approval history, but to produce a separately identified production file containing only the intended artwork and required production information.

Understand the documented print choices

Adobe Acrobat documents a Comments & Forms print setting with several options. Document prints document content and form fields without comments. Document and Markups includes comments. Document and Stamps includes stamps while excluding other markup types.

These are print-operation settings, not a guarantee that a PDF previously flattened by another application still contains separate annotation objects.

Inspect the current print dialog and its preview. If an arrow appears only under a markup-inclusive setting, it is consistent with annotation handling. If it remains in the document-only output, investigate whether it has become page content.

Do not instruct a printer to ignore all arrows indiscriminately. Some technical lines may be required dieline or finishing information. Their intended role must come from the supplier's actual specification.

Prepare a clean production derivative

Keep two clearly named files: the annotated review proof and the supplier-ready artwork. Ask the responsible production designer to resolve each comment against the editable source, then export a new PDF from the approved revision.

Do not simply remove a comment that identifies an unresolved defect. Record the correction or explicit decision before withdrawing the annotation from the production copy.

Open the new PDF independently. Inspect the previously marked locations and confirm that the corrected artwork is present while the review arrows and sticky notes are absent from the intended print content.

Where the workflow uses flattening or conversion, inspect the resulting PDF again. Once annotations become page pixels or drawing objects, the original comment-versus-artwork distinction may no longer be available to the recipient.

Ask the printer to confirm the exact production file and its intended output treatment. A screen preview alone is not a physical print approval.

Hypothetical case: a carton fold correction

Hypothetical proofing exercise; no PDF was printed. A fictional carton proof contains a red markup arrow pointing toward an incorrect fold-side label. The review file also contains an approved teal decorative border that is genuine page artwork.

Candidate A sends the annotated review PDF without clarifying the print settings or resolving the label error. It is rejected for production handoff.

Candidate B corrects the label in the editable artwork, exports a new PDF and checks that the red annotation is absent while the teal border remains. B is a conditional production candidate pending inspection and supplier confirmation.

If the red arrow was flattened into the artwork, excluding comments at print time will not necessarily remove it. The source must be corrected.

Record your own observations

The filled rows are illustrative examples. Use the blank row for your own files and observations.

Download the editable CSV worksheet

What the references establish

• Adobe Acrobat Pro — Print Settings: Primary documentation for Document, Document and Markups, Document and Stamps, and related print-content options.
• Adobe Acrobat — View Comments: Documents the PDF comments panel and review-comment management. The carton example is hypothetical.