Redact a PDF
Before you share a document, remove the names, addresses, account numbers or any other details you mark. The content is taken off the page itself rather than hidden under a box.
How to use it
- Pick your PDF, or drop it onto the box.
- Enter words to find each place they occur, or drag over areas to mark them yourself.
- Press Redact and save.
- Open the saved copy and check it thoroughly before you share it.
Hiding text is not the same as removing it
In most PDF editors, a black rectangle drawn over some text simply sits on top of it. The words remain in the file, and anyone can select and copy them. Published court and government papers have leaked confidential details in exactly this way.
TeddyPDF works differently. Each page you mark is rebuilt as an image, and the areas you marked are removed for good, so the text and pictures that sat beneath them do not make it into the new page. The document's title and author information, comments, form fields and any attached files are stripped out as well. Bear in mind that the tool deals with what is on the pages: if the PDF might hold other hidden information, check for that separately before you publish or share it.
What changes, and what to check
Since redacted pages become pictures, you will not be able to search or copy their text, and any links on them will stop working. Pages without any marks stay exactly as they were. Should you need the redacted pages to be searchable again, put the finished file through Make PDF searchable, which reads the remaining words back in.
Before you send the file anywhere, open the redacted copy and look through every page. Find text picks up every place a word appears as text, but it cannot see words inside scanned pages or photographs, so those need marking by hand.
Questions and answers
Could someone recover what I blacked out?
The marked content is removed when the page is rebuilt, rather than simply hidden under a black box. Even so, always check the saved copy before you share it.
Why can I no longer copy text from a redacted page?
Redacted pages are rebuilt as images, so their text cannot be searched or copied. Pages you did not mark keep their text. Make PDF searchable can read the remaining words back in.
Will Find text spot names inside a scanned page?
No. It only picks up words stored as text. For scanned pages and photographs, drag across the areas by hand.
Does TeddyPDF upload my file?
No. Your browser does all the work, on your own device. Before it opens your file, this page shuts off its own ability to send or fetch anything, and your browser holds it to that. Try it: once the page has loaded, turn off your Wi-Fi and the tool still works. How the lock works.