How to Redact a PDF Properly

Use this guide for contracts, case files, reports, scanned PDFs, signed pages and image-based PDFs. The goal is to export a copy that no longer exposes the sensitive original content.

Step 1: Import the PDF

Add the PDF on the home screen. If it is password-protected, unlock it first. If it is scanned or image-based, pay extra attention to visible text, seals, faces and QR codes.

PDFs usually fall into three groups:

• Text PDFs with selectable text.
• Scanned PDFs where each page is an image.
• Mixed PDFs with text, images, signatures, forms or annotations.

Step 2: Choose what to detect

For external sharing, commonly select:

• Names, phone numbers, emails and addresses
• ID numbers and travel document numbers
• Company names and business identifiers
• Case numbers, document numbers and contract references
• Financial accounts, amounts and dates
• Seals, faces, QR codes and barcodes

Contracts and legal files often leak information in headers, footers, tables and signature pages.

Step 3: Review the hit list

After detection, inspect the hit list before export.

Check whether:

1. The same company or person is handled consistently.
2. Headers, footers, signature pages and attachments were detected.
3. Scanned pages include visual targets.
4. Public organization names or legal terms were selected by mistake.

Fix missing or incorrect hits before continuing.

Step 4: Search for original terms

Search for terms that must not appear in the final copy.

Good search terms include names, phone suffixes, customer abbreviations, project codes, case numbers and email domains.

Step 5: Preview the result

Open the redaction preview and inspect the final appearance.

Check that masks or aliases are aligned, the document remains readable, and image-based content is handled.

Step 6: Verify the exported copy

After export, open the redacted copy and verify it:

• Search for original names, phone numbers and company names.
• Try copying text near redacted areas.
• Open the file in another PDF reader.
• Review signature pages, tables and scanned pages.

Only send the exported redacted copy, not the original PDF.