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Forensic check

HTPBE_FLATTENED_EDIT_HISTORY

HTPBE_FLATTENED_EDIT_HISTORY appears on 1.3% of modified results in our corpus. A marker is evidence about the file, not a judgement about the person who sent it.

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Marker profile

Incremental Update History

Signs the file was rebuilt after its original production.

Share of modified results
1.3%
Frequency rank
#21
Among the 56 markers seen in modified results
Certain confidence
27.1%
Of results with this marker rated certain rather than high
Fires alone
21.4%
Results where it is the only marker found

Marker profile

What HTPBE_FLATTENED_EDIT_HISTORY tells you

HTPBE_FLATTENED_EDIT_HISTORY is one of the named findings returned in modification_markers when a PDF is reported as modified. It belongs to the Incremental Update History group of checks. These checks look at the saved revision history of a file and what it says about changes after the original was produced.

On 21.4% of the modified results that carry HTPBE_FLATTENED_EDIT_HISTORY it is the only marker. A result with this marker carries 2.6 markers on average. It is most often found together with HTPBE_IDENTITY_BLANKED, on 45.7% of these results.

Example API response

How it appears in a result

When a PDF is reported as modified, HTPBE_FLATTENED_EDIT_HISTORY is listed in modification_markers next to the verdict and its confidence. Each marker is a named, actionable finding – not a score.

GET /api/v1/result/{id}
{
  "id": "9f3a2c1d-8b47-4e6f-a012-3d5e7f890123",
  "status": "modified",
  "modification_confidence": "high",
  "modification_markers": [
    "HTPBE_FLATTENED_EDIT_HISTORY"
  ],
  "creator": "Adobe Acrobat Pro DC",
  "has_incremental_updates": true,
  "page_count": 3
}

Full schema in the API reference →

Distributions

What ships alongside HTPBE_FLATTENED_EDIT_HISTORY

The tools, formats and document traits that appear on the modified results carrying this marker. Shares are of those results.

Common Producers

airSlate writes 21.4% of these results – and 73.2% of all modified results naming it carry this marker.

airSlate73.2% of its modified21.4%
pdf-lib8.6% of its modified4.3%
wkhtmltopdf100.0% of its modified4.3%
iText0.4% of its modified2.9%
Skia/PDF3.1% of its modified2.9%

Common Creators

Mapping Output Manager is the Creator on 4.3% of these results.

Mapping Output Manager100.0% of its modified4.3%
Patriot Software Payroll100.0% of its modified4.3%
Chrome (Print to PDF)4.4% of its modified3.6%
JasperReports2.3% of its modified2.1%
wkhtmltopdf5.9% of its modified2.1%

Often found together with

HTPBE_IDENTITY_BLANKED sits next to HTPBE_FLATTENED_EDIT_HISTORY more often than any other marker.

Document origin

Unknown41.4%
Online editor20.7%
Consumer software17.9%
Institutional15.7%
Scanned2.9%

Creator → Producer pairs

Mapping Output Manager → airSlate4.3%
Patriot Software Payroll → wkhtmltopdf4.3%
Chrome (Print to PDF) → Skia/PDF2.9%
E-statement Batch Generator (PT. Bank Central Asia, Tbk) → iText2.1%
wkhtmltopdf → pdf-lib2.1%

Detected origin software

airSlate20.7%
Browser (Print to PDF)10.7%
Google Chrome2.9%
Free HTML-to-PDF renderer2.1%

Confidence of the verdict

Certain27.1%
High72.9%

When these results were checked

May 202617.9%
June 20267.9%
July 202611.4%
August 202614.3%
September 202612.9%
October 202622.1%
November 202613.6%

Document length

1 page37.9%
2–5 pages45.7%
6–20 pages13.6%
21–100 pages2.1%
100+ pages0.7%

File size

Under 100 KB39.3%
100 KB – 1 MB54.3%
1 – 5 MB5.7%
Over 5 MB0.7%

PDF versions

PDF 1.767.9%
PDF 1.632.1%

Year the document says it was created

20252.9%
202645.7%

Long tail

Notable observations

Smaller cuts of the results carrying HTPBE_FLATTENED_EDIT_HISTORY – useful context, but treat each row as a single data point rather than a strong signal.

Digitally signed
0%

Of files carry at least one digital signature

Saved revisions
0%

Of files contain earlier saved revisions

Embedded JavaScript
0%

Of files contain JavaScript code

Embedded files
0%

Of files have attachments inside

Avg pages per document
4.7
Markers per result
2.6

Average number of markers on these results

Related checks

Other Incremental Update History checks

Checks from the same group. Each card links to its own reference page.

HTPBE_MULTIPLE_REVISION_LAYERSSaved revisions showing the document was modified after creation
Share of modified21.5%
HTPBE_METADATA_ONLY_REVISIONA post-creation revision consistent with targeted alteration
Share of modified7.1%

FAQ

HTPBE_FLATTENED_EDIT_HISTORY: common questions

What does HTPBE_FLATTENED_EDIT_HISTORY mean?

HTPBE_FLATTENED_EDIT_HISTORY is a named finding in an HTPBE? result: signs the file was rebuilt after its original production. It is returned in the modification_markers list of a modified result and belongs to the Incremental Update History group of checks.

Does HTPBE_FLATTENED_EDIT_HISTORY mean the document is fake?

No. A marker is evidence about the file, not a judgement about the person who sent it. It records that the file shows this pattern; it does not say why, and it does not assess what the document states. Read it together with the verdict and any other markers on the same result.

What should I do when a result contains HTPBE_FLATTENED_EDIT_HISTORY?

Ask the sender for the original file straight from the issuing system, or request a fresh copy from the issuer. Check whether the document went through a later step such as re-saving, merging or converting, and verify it with the issuer before relying on it for a decision.

How common is HTPBE_FLATTENED_EDIT_HISTORY?

HTPBE_FLATTENED_EDIT_HISTORY appears on 1.3% of the modified results in the HTPBE? corpus. The corpus consists of PDFs people chose to submit for checking, so it skews towards documents someone had a reason to doubt and is not a sample of all PDFs.

Where do I see HTPBE_FLATTENED_EDIT_HISTORY?

In the modification_markers list of the result returned by the HTPBE? API, and on the result page of a modified document. Other checks in the Incremental Update History group are listed below on this page; all 63 checks are listed on the how-it-works page.

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