Redact PDF
Paint black over regions and rebuild image-only pages so text does not survive underneath.
Runs in this tab. The file stays here.
About Redact PDF
Black out regions and rebuild image-only PDF pages so text cannot be selected underneath — offline.
Drawing a black box on top of text while leaving the text objects intact is a well-documented privacy failure. Search “remove black redaction PDF” and weep. This tool paints redaction rectangles, then rasterizes pages to JPEG so there is no text layer left to extract.
Drag boxes on the preview, move across pages, then redact & download. Someone can still guess from context or surrounding pixels — redaction is not cryptography — but they cannot copy the hidden string from the text layer.
Edit PDF text whiteout is for casual cover-up while editing. Redact is the irreversible visual path.
How to use Redact PDF
- 1Drop a PDF.
- 2Drag black boxes over sensitive regions on each page that needs them.
- 3Redact & download the image-based PDF.
What it won't do
- You must draw at least one region.
- Raster output — vector crispness is sacrificed for safety.
Common questions
Can someone undo the black boxes?
Not as selectable text — output pages are images. Context and image forensics are still possible. Redaction is careful destruction, not encryption.
Why is the whole PDF re-rendered?
So text objects under boxes do not survive. Partial “just cover this” without rasterizing is how leaks happen.
Is the file uploaded?
No.
Related tools
Why this one doesn't upload your file
There is no server to upload to. This page is a static file, and the work happens in your browser using the same graphics and WebAssembly code that renders every other site you visit. Your file is read from disk into memory, processed, and handed back as a download. Once the page has loaded you can disconnect from the network entirely and it keeps working. The longer explanation