Redact PDF
Permanently black out words, numbers, and areas in a PDF
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About Redact PDF
Redact PDF blacks out what a document must not show — names, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, IBANs, or any area you draw — and removes it for good. Every page that carries a redaction is rebuilt as an image with solid black boxes burned in, so the text underneath is not hidden but gone, while the other pages keep their selectable text.
The PDF is read, searched and redacted inside this browser tab. Nothing is uploaded — not the file, not the words you search for — and the tool keeps working with the network off.
How to use Redact PDF
- Drop in the PDF. The tool reads its text so every page can be searched; a scan with no text is flagged, with a link to OCR PDF.
- Type words or phrases, one per line, or switch on a pattern for e-mail addresses, phone numbers or IBANs. Match case, whole words only and regular expressions are there when a plain search finds too much.
- Check the matches on the page preview and in the list. Untick anything that should stay, draw boxes over what the search cannot find — a signature, a photo — and list the pages to black out completely.
- Black out and save. The result says how many areas were blacked out on how many pages, and Change settings brings back your search, boxes and choices.
On a production
A call sheet goes to a location owner, a crew list to an insurer, a production report to a broadcaster — and none of them should carry the private numbers of everyone on it. Search once for the names and numbers, check every hit on the page before anything is applied, and send a copy that holds only what the reader needs.
Frequently asked questions
- Is the redacted text really gone?
- Yes. The original of a redacted page is never copied into the new file — the tool paints the page into an image, blacks out the boxes on that image and writes the image instead. Before you can save, it checks the finished file for stray pages or document parts left over from the original.
- Why does a redacted page turn into an image?
- Because erasing words in place is where redaction usually fails: a PDF can draw the same text in several pieces, in any order, and a missed piece stays readable. An image has nothing underneath. The trade-off is that text on that page can no longer be selected; pages without a redaction keep theirs. Choose High (300 dpi) when the page must print sharply.
- What about scanned documents?
- A scan is already a picture, so there is no text to search. The tool says so and offers OCR PDF to add a text layer first. Drawn boxes work either way — you can black out a scanned page by hand without running OCR at all.
- Does the new file still carry the original's metadata or attachments?
- No. The redacted copy is a new document: the original's title, author, bookmarks, attachments and scripts are not carried over. Untouched pages keep their text and web links, while a page with form fields becomes an image that shows the values as filled in.