Odd Bits / Your files
PDF Redactor
Drag a box over what you want hidden, or search for a word. The pages you redact are redrawn as pictures with the boxes painted in, so the hidden text is no longer in the file.
- What you get
- Draw boxes over text, or search for a word and redact the matches
- Redacted pages are redrawn as pictures, so the text under a box is gone from the file
- A report of which pages were kept, redrawn or have no selectable text
- Works with
- PDF (no password)
- Version
- v1.0, updated 2026-10-19
One PDF at a time, up to 10 pages free. A PDF that needs a password to open can’t be read.
Unlocks go on sale soon. Everything free works now.
What it never does
- Promise it found everything. Search only sees text the PDF contains: a scanned page has none, so you draw boxes there. The report says which pages have no selectable text
- Place a search box exactly on the words. Where a match sits inside a line is estimated and padded, so look at the preview before you save
- Open a PDF that needs a password to open
- Keep your document information, XMP metadata, bookmarks, form fields or attachments: the saved file is a new document without them
- Give legal advice or meet a legal redaction standard. If a court or regulator requires a specific process, follow theirs
Questions
Why not just draw a black box in a PDF editor?
In many editors the text is still under the box and can be copied out. Here, a page with a box on it is drawn again as a picture with the box painted into the pixels, and that picture replaces the page. The text under the box is not in the file.
What happens to pages I do not redact?
Where the tool can keep a page with confidence, it stays as live text, cut down to what the page needs. A page with comments, form fields, an inline image, a Type 3 font or anything it cannot check is drawn as a picture too, and the report lists those pages and why.
How do I check it worked?
Open the saved file and try to select the hidden text. Search for a word you hid. Or run pdftotext on the file and search the output. If the word is there, do not send the file, and email dakshbathla@navitallabs.com.
Why is my redacted file bigger?
Redacted pages are pictures now, drawn at twice their size. Fewer redacted pages means a smaller file.
Can I redact a scan?
Yes, by drawing boxes. Search cannot find text that is only a picture.
What is free?
One PDF at a time, up to 10 pages. The unlock takes PDFs up to 100 pages.