Private PDF Redactor Online — No Upload

How to use PDF Redactor with a clear next step.

Use PDF Redactor to create a truly redacted PDF copy without server uploads. Choose the PDF, drag boxes over the information to remove on each page, then download the redacted copy. Every page with a box is rebuilt as an image with the box burned in; pages without boxes are copied unchanged. Open the download and check each redacted page before sharing.

PDF Redactor is a single files workstation for removing information before a PDF is shared. The trade-off is deliberate: a redacted page becomes an image, so none of its text can be selected or searched afterwards, and file size can grow. Pages without boxes keep their original text. Check the exported copy at full size, because a box removes only what it covers. OpenToolSuite will not silently upload a file to “make it work,” and this tool is not a certified legal redaction service. Identify every location where the sensitive information appears before drawing boxes. A name can occur in a heading, footer, repeated table and attachment; covering one visible instance does not remove the others. Use a box wide enough to cover complete characters and surrounding context that identifies the person. After export, compare each treated page visually, then try text selection, search and extraction for the removed term. The image replacement removes text on the treated page, but unrelated pages still need their own review. File size can increase because those pages are rasterised; do not reduce quality so far that the remaining record becomes unreadable. If a page fails to render, stop and obtain a readable source rather than sharing an incompletely treated copy. Keep the original securely and share only the verified output. Metadata and visible identifiers elsewhere in the file require separate inspection.

PDF Redactor runs in the current browser session. pdf.js renders each page that has a box at about 200 DPI, the boxes are painted onto the pixels, and pdf-lib replaces that page with a page holding only the image. The page's text, fonts, hidden text, links and form fields are not carried over, so nothing under a box can be selected, searched or extracted. Objects that only the removed pages used are dropped before the file is saved.