Redact PDF
Remove sample IDs, patient codes or other identifiers from a PDF record by redacting marked areas and every search match. Your file stays in your browser.
Choose a PDF
One PDF up to 20 MB and 100 pages. The PDF engine (about 5 MB) downloads on first use.
Choose one PDF to start.
Mark what to remove
Drag across the page to mark an area (this works with a finger on phones), or add an area and move it with the arrow keys. Shift with the arrow keys resizes it; Delete removes it.
0 marked areas
Redacted PDF
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Try an example
Download sample PDFSearch for 148.50 to mark both totals, then drag an area over the signature image. In the downloaded PDF, 148.50 cannot be found or copied, the image area is black, and the heading and the Keep this line text remain.
What to expect
Redaction removes the text under each marked area, erases the pixels of images inside it and fills the area with black. Text only partly inside an area is cut at the character level: check the edges in the preview. Before a download is offered, the saved file is checked: no text can be extracted from any marked area.
Annotations and form fields on pages with marks are flattened into the page first, so they are no longer editable there. Document properties, bookmarks, attachments and text on unmarked pages are not changed; remove sensitive document properties separately. Search finds text only; scanned pages need drawn areas.
Password-protected PDFs must be unlocked first. Up to 500 marked areas. Opening allows 45 seconds; redaction stops after two minutes. Rewriting a PDF invalidates digital signatures.
Engine licenses and source code
A practical guide
Redact identifiers in PDF records
- Select the PDF record to be shared.
- Search for each identifier pattern and add areas for images.
- Redact and verify that no identifier remains searchable.
Try this example
Redact the sample ID S-2048 on every page of a 20-page lab report; a text search of the copy for S-2048 returns no result.
Before you start: Redaction cannot be undone in the copy; document properties and attachments are not changed, so review them separately.