We have repeated incidents where redacted budgets leaked donor amounts through file history or comments. Propose a sta…
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.
Redacting permanently removes the selected text or image data from the PDF file. It is gone forever. Drawing a black rectangle only covers the text visually; the text is still part of the document underneath the rectangle and can be copied and pasted to reveal it. Always use the specific 'Redact' tool for true security.
Redaction removes only visible content. If your scanned document has hidden data like metadata or revision history, these must be sanitized separately. After redacting visible parts, run the 'Sanitize' tool to strip all other hidden data from the file. Always verify by searching and attempting to copy-paste sensitive terms.
Sanitizing a PDF after redaction is important because redaction only removes visible text and images. Hidden data, such as metadata, layers, or revision history, can still contain sensitive information. Sanitizing removes all this hidden data, ensuring that no private details are accidentally left in the file after redaction.
Redaction codes are labels you can add to redacted areas, like '[PII]' for Personally Identifiable Information or '[CONFIDENTIAL]'. They help a team by providing a consistent reason for why content was removed. This makes it easier for everyone to understand the redactions and ensures a standard approach across different documents and team members, improving clarity and compliance.