We've shared four dataset summaries with partners this year and had to rework two for privacy concerns. Propose a ligh…
Open one of your PDFs in Adobe Acrobat Pro.
Best practiceMake sure you are using Adobe Acrobat Pro DC or later, as some features are not available in Standard.
Go to the 'Tools' pane and select 'Redact'.
Best practiceYou can also find 'Redact' in the right-hand pane or by searching in the Tools search bar.
Click 'Mark for Redaction' > 'Text & Images', then use your mouse to draw a redaction box over the area you want to redact.
CautionDo not apply the redaction yet; just mark the area.
Right-click the redaction mark and select 'Repeat Mark Across Pages...'.
Best practiceThis feature lets you apply the same redaction area to a range of pages within the current PDF.
In the dialog, specify the page range and click 'OK' to mark the same area on all selected pages.
Best practiceReview the marks to ensure they align correctly on each page.
To redact recurring text, click 'Find Text & Redact', enter your search term, and use 'Find Next' or 'Find All' to mark all instances.
Best practiceYou can use 'Match case' or 'Whole words only' to refine your search.
To apply these redactions across multiple PDFs, go to 'Tools' > 'Action Wizard', create a new Action, add the 'Redact' step, and configure it to use your search or redaction marks.
Best practiceYou can add multiple files to the Action and run the redaction process in batch.
Click 'Apply Redactions' to permanently remove the marked content, then save your files.
CautionRedactions are permanent and cannot be undone after saving.
For consistent redaction across multiple PDFs, carefully match the area coordinates and dimensions in each file before applying redactions.
This runs in the Acrobat app - there is no separate API for this task.
Drawing a black rectangle only covers the text, but the text is still there underneath. Someone can easily select, copy, and paste that text to reveal it. The Redact tool, however, permanently removes the text and images from the document. It replaces the content with a black mark, making the original data unrecoverable. Always use the Redact tool for security.
Redaction only removes visible content. A PDF can also contain hidden data like metadata (author, date), layers, or revision history. Sanitize removes all this hidden data. If you don't sanitize, sensitive information might still be found in these hidden parts, even after you redact the visible text.
For many items like SSNs or account numbers, Acrobat Pro has a feature for 'pattern-based auto-redaction'. This lets you search for specific patterns (like how an SSN looks) and redact all matching text at once. After using this, always have another person check a random sample of the redactions to make sure it worked correctly and didn't miss anything.
Redaction codes are labels that explain why certain information was hidden. For example, a code might be 'PRIVACY' or 'CONFIDENTIAL'. Using a consistent list of these codes across your team helps everyone understand why content was redacted. It also makes it easier to review and manage redacted documents, ensuring everyone follows the same rules.