Redact an Adobe PDF file

Document Overview

This document will guide you through the process of redacting sensitive text and images within a PDF file.

Instructions

Step 1

You will need access to Adobe Acrobat to be able to redact information within a PDF file. Adobe Reader will not support this function. If you do not have access to Adobe Acrobat, please contact the ICT Client Services team to organise access, as this will require funding approval first.

Step 2

Open the PDF file in Adobe Acrobat.

Step 3

Click on Tools.

Step 4

Navigate to the Redact tool and click Add tool.

Step 5

Then click Open tool.

Step 6

You will return to the document and have access to the redact tools.

Step 7

You can use the Redact Pages option to redact a whole page, or multiple pages at once.

Step 8

You search for specific names, keywords or patterns of text by using the Find Text & Redact option, and can search multiple PDF files at once.

Acrobat will prompt you with a warning that a document may contain images or artwork that appear as text but are not, and will not be detected using this function.

Step 9

You can manually select text or images to be redacted by simply highlighting the text or images to be redacted.

You can preview what the redaction will look like by hovering over the highlighted text.

Step 10

Once all desired content has been selected, click Apply to complete redaction.

NB - Acrobat will prompt you with a warning that all the information you have selected for redaction will be permanently removed in the new document.

It will also prompt you to Sanitize the document, which will remove any hidden data and metadata from the document as well. Adobe PDFs often contain hidden information regarding the author and versions of documents. This option is enabled by default.

The option to Sanitise the document without redaction is also available.

Step 11

After clicking OK, the document should look like this.

Step 12

You can change the appearance of the redacted text by selecting Properties in the dropdown menu.

This will allow to change the general appearance of the redacted text, such as fill colour. You can overlay with text rather than solid colour, as well as add author notes to the new document if necessary.

Step 13

You will be prompted to save the redacted document. You can save it over the top of the original file or as a separate, distinct file if the original document needs to be retained.

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