We plan to post anonymized artwork on the clinic's website next month. I have images and captions but I'm not sure the…
Open the PDF you want to sanitize in Adobe Acrobat Pro.
Select Tools in the top menu.
Scroll to or search for Redact and select it.
In the secondary toolbar, click Sanitize Document.
CautionSanitizing a document permanently removes hidden information and cannot be undone after saving.
Review the list of items that will be removed in the confirmation dialog, then click OK to proceed.
Save the sanitized PDF with a new file name to preserve the original, unsanitized version.
Best practiceAlways keep a backup of the original PDF in case you need to reference or restore content later.
The Sanitize Document feature removes metadata, hidden text, comments, and other sensitive information in one step.
This runs in the Acrobat app - there is no separate API for this task.
| Feature | What it does | Layer it affects |
|---|---|---|
| Redact a PDF | Covers up visible text and images. | Visible layer |
| Sanitize Document | Removes invisible data like metadata, comments, and scripts. | Invisible layer |
It is important to use Sanitize Document to protect privacy and ensure compliance. PDFs often contain hidden information like author names, creation dates, or even comments from internal reviews. If this data is not removed, it can accidentally reveal sensitive details to the public, which might lead to privacy breaches or legal issues.
Sanitize Document can remove 'hidden AI content' from your PDF. This refers to any data or elements within the document that might have been generated or embedded by artificial intelligence tools, which could contain metadata or structural information you don't want to share. Removing it ensures that only the intended visible content remains.