Remove Sensitive Content with Redaction Tool
Redaction describes the process of removing confidential information from a document so that it cannot be accessed in any way
Redact Information Manually
1. Go to Tools panel > Protection pane
2. Under Black Out and Remove Content, select Mark for Redaction
3. A window will open explaining how to use the redaction tools, click OK
4. With the Mark for Redaction tool open, drag over any content you wish to redact
5. It will be highlighted with an outline box
6. Go to Tools panel > Protection pane > under Black Out and Remove Content, click on Apply Redactions
7. A window will open warning you that after the document has been saved this action cannot be undone and the information will be permanently gone
8. Another window will open asking you if you want to search for hidden information, see the next section titled Reveal and Clear Hidden Information form more details. For now click No
9. The information will be removed
Redact Information using Search and Remove
1. Go to Tools panel > Protection pane > under Black Out and Remove Content select Search and Remove Text
2. You will get a warning letting you know that images and line are will not appear as text, those you will have to redact manually. Click Ok
3. In the window that opens under Where would you like to search? select to search either in the current document or All PDF Documents in a selected folder
4. Below Search for: select whether you are searching for
- Single word or phrase
- Multiple words or phrase
- Patterns- This option allows you to search patterns such as phone numbers, social security numbers, dates, etc. Adobe will identify any text that fits that pattern and you can go through and select which specific one you want to redact
5. In the box below What word or phrase would you like to search for? type in your search query
6. Check the box next to Whole words only if you want the results to be an entire word not parts of a word
- For example, if you leave this unchecked and you search the word win you will get results for win but also words like window that have win in them
7. Click Search and Redact when you are done
8. All the results will be listed in the panel
9. You can click on a result to see it in the document
10. To mark the results for redaction, you must check the box next to each result either by clicking on each box or by clicking on Check All
11. Under Redaction Mark Options you can select either
- Mark whole word(s) for redaction
- Mark partial word(s) for redaction- for this option click Settings to indicate what part of the word you want to be redacted
12. Click Mark Checked Results for Redaction when you are done
13. All of the results that you checked will be marked
14. Click on Apply Redactions to remove all the instances you marked
15. A window will open warning you that after the document has been saved this action cannot be undone and the information will be permanently gone
16. Another window will open asking you if you want to search for hidden information, see the next section titled Reveal and Clear Hidden Information form more details. For now click No
17. The information will be removed
Edit Appearance of Redaction Marks
1. Go to Tools panel > Protection pane > under Black Out and Remove Content select Redaction Properties
2. Under the Appearance tab, next to Redacted Area Fill Color click on the box to select the color that you want the area where the redacted information used to be located to be filled in with
3. Check the box next to Use Overlay Text if you want to add a text to the area where the redacted information used to be located
- In the Overlay Text area you can then edit the text and its formatting options
4. In the Redaction Mark Appearance section you can select the Outline Color, Fill Color, and Fill Opacity for the area that has been marked for redaction
5. Click Ok when you are done
