I have a tenant file with a photo of their ID on page 2. Permanently redact the ID photo so the image cannot be seen o…
Open the PDF you want to redact in Adobe Acrobat Pro.
Select All tools in the left pane or from the top menu.
Scroll and click Redact to activate the redaction tool.
Click Mark for Redaction in the toolbar or right pane.
Select the text or image you want to redact by dragging the cursor over it.
Right-click the selection and choose Redact.
Repeat steps 5-6 for any additional text or images you want to redact.
Click Apply Redactions at the top to permanently remove the marked content.
CautionRedacted content is permanently removed and cannot be recovered after saving.
Save the PDF with a new name to preserve the redacted version.
Best practiceBefore applying redactions, you can customize the appearance of redaction marks in the redaction tool properties.
Best practiceAlways double-check for hidden metadata or sensitive information before sharing the redacted PDF.
You can preview all marked redactions before applying them to ensure nothing is missed.
This runs in the Acrobat app - there is no separate API for this task.
Drawing a black box only covers the content visually; the original text or image data remains underneath and can be recovered. Acrobat's Redact tool, however, permanently removes the selected content from the document's data layer. This means the information is truly gone and cannot be uncovered, making it safe for sharing sensitive documents.
Sanitizing a PDF after redaction is important because redaction only removes visible content. A PDF can contain hidden data like metadata, comments, attachments, or even previous versions of the document. Sanitize removes all these hidden elements, ensuring no sensitive information remains in the file that could accidentally be exposed.
Yes, for many documents or specific patterns like Social Security Numbers (SSNs) or account numbers, you can use Acrobat Pro's pattern-based auto-redaction feature. This helps you find and redact information faster. After auto-redaction, it's a good idea to have a team member check a few random documents to make sure everything was hidden correctly.
Redaction codes are labels you can add to redacted areas, like 'Privacy' or 'Confidential'. They explain why something was hidden without revealing the actual content. You can create your own list of codes or use existing ones. Using consistent codes across a team helps everyone understand the reasons for redactions.