Drop a PDF here
A filing, a statement, a contract with a name that must not travel.
Nothing is uploaded. The file is read on your device.
Pick a tool on the right, then click the page where it belongs.
How to redact a PDF properly
Pick Redact, which is already selected when this page opens, and click the text that has to go. Drag the box to cover it, or drag a corner to size it. Add as many boxes as the document needs, on as many pages, then download.
Why a black box is not redaction
Most online redaction draws a black rectangle over the text and stops. The text is still in the file. Select-all in any reader, copy, paste, and the name is back. That is how redacted court filings and disclosure packs have leaked, repeatedly. Real redaction either deletes the underlying content or re-renders the page so it no longer exists.
What this tool does at download
Every page carrying a redaction is re-rendered as a high-resolution image with the black boxes burned in, and that image replaces the page. The text underneath is not in the file. The cost is that those pages become pictures rather than selectable text, which is why the tool tells you so before you download. Pages without a redaction keep their text.
Check the result before it goes anywhere
Open the downloaded file, select all on a redacted page, and copy. If nothing comes out, the redaction held. Do this every time, with any tool, because the difference between covered and removed is invisible on screen.
Redact and fill on the same pass
The same page fills forms and adds signatures, so a document can be redacted, corrected and signed without moving between tools.
Read more
Redaction in the glossary explains the difference in one paragraph. Edit a PDF covers corrections, added text and highlights.
Keyboard shortcuts
- r arms another redaction; e, h, b, t arm erase, highlight, box or text
- Escape cancels a placement; Ctrl+Z undoes; Delete removes the selected box
- Arrow keys nudge the selected box one pixel; hold Shift for ten