All tools Protect and redact
Redact a PDF so the text under the box is gone
A black box over text often leaves the text in the file, where it can be copied out. PDF Stitch turns every page with a redaction into a picture of itself, so what was under the box is gone, and checks each redacted page of the finished file before saving it. Find and black out finds words you type, email addresses, phone numbers, card and bank account numbers for you.
Blacking out by hand with the Redact tool is free, and so is the check before saving. Finding words, emails and numbers is free too, so you see what is in the file. Blacking out everything found at once, keeping the rest of a redacted page searchable, and removing hidden information are part of Pro. Pricing
How to do it
- Open your PDF. To find things to black out, open Tools and choose Find and black out; to draw boxes yourself, open a page and choose the Redact tool (X).
- Check every box. For extra care, turn on Remove hidden information.
- Press Download. The redacted pages are checked for leftover text before the file is saved.
You do not have to take our word for it
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Watch the network
The "Nothing is uploaded" button in the app opens a list of every other site the page has contacted since you opened it, and how often, taken from the browser's own record. Your browser's developer tools show every request, this site's own included.
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Pull the plug
Once the app has loaded, turn off your network and keep working. Text recognition, the document converter and the handwriting fonts work offline too after their first use.
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Redaction that removes
A page with something blacked out is saved as a picture of itself, so the text under the box is gone, and every redacted page is checked before the file is saved.
Questions
- Can the redacted text be copied out later?
- No. A page with a redaction is saved as a picture of itself, so the text under a box is not in the file. The app checks that before saving and refuses to save if it finds text under a redaction.
- Is the same word removed everywhere?
- No, only what is under a box. The same words in bookmarks, the document's title, comments, or on pages without a box stay in the file, so black out each place they appear, and check the title and bookmarks in Document properties.
- Can the rest of a redacted page still be searched?
- With Pro, yes: the page's other text is laid back over its picture, invisibly, so it can be searched and copied, all but what was under the boxes. Without Pro, a redacted page holds no text at all, which is just as safe.
- What about pages without redactions?
- They keep their real text, so it can still be searched and copied.
- What can Find and black out find?
- Words you type, email addresses, phone numbers, card numbers, bank account numbers (IBAN) and US social security numbers, also inside form fields and comments.
- Is it free?
- Blacking out by hand with the Redact tool is free, and so is the check before saving. Finding words, emails and numbers is free too, so you see what is in the file. Blacking out everything found at once, keeping the rest of a redacted page searchable, and removing hidden information are part of Pro.