PDF and files

True PDF redaction

Draw boxes. Export burns them into page images so the underlying text is gone.

A black rectangle in Word is not redaction

If you can still select the type under a black bar, you did not redact. You decorated. This page draws boxes, then rebuilds the PDF as page images with the boxes burned in. The secret is not in the file. The trade: no searchable text, no pretty vectors.

Worked example: salary in a board pack

Load. Draw a box over the CTC line on page 3. Flip pages. Export. Open the download, try to copy the line. You should get nothing useful. Keep the original in a folder that is not the email attachment.

Worked example: you forgot a box

The export cannot un-see what you left visible. Re-load the original, not the redacted file, and draw again.

Questions

Is this a black box over still-selectable text?

No. Export writes JPEG pages. The original glyphs are not in the download. Acrobat “select all” on the result should not yield the secret.

Uploaded?

No.

Vector-perfect redaction?

No. Flattened pictures. Bookmarks and form fields die. That is the point of destruction.

Aadhaar auto-detect?

Use the Aadhaar/PAN mask page for detection. This page is manual boxes for anything.

Undo a box?

Undo last box on the current page before you export.

Password PDF?

Enter the user password when loading.

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