How to use
- contract.pdfUp to 2,000 pages
Add a PDF
- contract.pdfBoxes, text, phone numbers
Choose what to remove
- contract (redacted).pdfHidden text is removed
Black out and export
Drop a PDF or choose a file. Try a sample to see how it works.
Drag on the page to draw a box over what you want removed. Switch pages to add more.
Use Find candidates to search for text, a regular expression, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, postal codes or 12-digit numbers. Check the ones you want and add them.
Choose the resolution, fill colour and the optional REDACTED label, then press Redact and export.
The exported PDF is checked automatically and the result is shown. Download it and confirm the result for yourself.
What it does
Removes the text and images underneath
Each redacted page is rendered to an image with pdf.js, the black boxes are painted on that image, and only the image goes into the new PDF. The original text and images of that page are not carried over (an image or form that a kept page also uses stays; a kept page that shares a font with a redacted page becomes a picture by default). This is different from drawing black rectangles over the text.
Candidates you confirm
Besides text and regular expressions, you can find phone numbers, e-mail addresses, postal codes and 12-digit numbers. Candidates are never applied automatically; only the ones you check become areas.
Checked after export
The saved file is opened again. Export is only allowed when redacted pages have no text, the document information, attachments, forms and bookmarks are gone, and nothing that only the redacted pages used is in the file (compared by content). If a check fails, nothing is saved.
Other pages stay as they are
Pages without boxes keep their text, so it can still be selected and searched; unused images and forms are removed. A page whose content cannot be read safely is saved as a picture. Page size and rotation match the original.
Use cases
- Black out names, phone numbers and ID fields in a contract before sharing it outside the company
- Hide a few figures in an internal report and send the other pages unchanged
- Redact a document showing an address or a My Number before sharing it
Supported formats
Input
Output
Capability matrix
| Feature | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Remove the text and images under a box you drew | Supported | — |
| Leave no text, images or annotations of the redacted pages in the new file | Partial | An image or form that a kept page also uses stays in the file. A kept page that shares a font with a redacted page becomes a picture by default |
| Remove document information (including XMP), attachments, JavaScript, forms and bookmarks | Supported | — |
| Find candidates: phone numbers, e-mail addresses, postal codes, 12-digit numbers | Partial | Only text that matches the pattern. Other notations and text inside images are not found |
| Keep the text of redacted pages searchable and selectable | Not supported | Redacted pages become images, so their text can no longer be searched or selected |
| Keep the text of kept pages that share a font with a redacted page | Partial | Off by default (they become pictures). When the option is on the text stays, but the font may still hold the kinds of characters used on the redacted pages |
| Process encrypted (password-protected) PDFs | Not supported | Remove the password first with the password tool (only if you are authorised to) |
| Find text inside scanned images automatically (OCR) | Not supported | Text inside images is not offered as a candidate. Draw a box around it instead |
| Keep annotations other than links, or form fields | Not supported | The new file only gets what it needs, so these are not kept |
| Edit the content of the redacted PDF afterwards | Not supported | Redaction writes a new file and does not change the original |
Limits & notes
- Up to 300 MB and 2,000 pages.
- Also works on phones and tablets, but a PC is more reliable for fine selection and checking the result.
- Up to 40 million pixels per rendered page (an A4 page at 300 dpi is about 8.7 million).
- Redacted pages become images, so the file can be larger than the original.
- A page that is kept but whose content cannot be read safely becomes a picture, so its text can no longer be searched or selected.
- Kept pages that share a font with a redacted page become pictures by default, so their text cannot be searched or selected (the option keeps it).
- If the browser runs out of memory, lower the resolution or process the pages in smaller files.
Privacy & safety
The PDF is processed in your browser and is not sent to any server. The redacted text and the candidate text are not recorded either.
FAQ
Is drawing a black rectangle over the text enough?
Can I search the text after redacting?
Can I redact a password-protected PDF?
Will it remove every phone number or My Number automatically?
How do I know the exported PDF is clean?
The redacted PDF got bigger.
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