topic Re: Best way to redact a PDF (free preferably)? in SmorgasBoard

Best way to redact a PDF (free preferably)?

Anonymous — Sun, 13 Jan 2019 01:43:23 GMT

Anyone know of a good preferably free way to fully redact a pdf? I would like to share my report with someone but plan on going through it with a fine tooth comb to extract anything sensitive. There is a product from Adobe but it costs $195. The solution I am looking for would have to come from a reputable source and scrub all metadata.

Thanks.

Re: Best way to redact a PDF (free preferably)?

rbentley — Sun, 13 Jan 2019 13:50:31 GMT

Print the PDF. Use a marker to redact any sensitive info. Rescan redacted copy as a new PDF. Share it.

Re: Best way to redact a PDF (free preferably)?

SOGGIE — Mon, 14 Jan 2019 03:33:26 GMT

Open the pdf file using Microsoft Word. Select the area you wish to redact. Select the 'Highight' icon. Choose the black color option. Save file as pdf or use MS's 'Print to PDF' option--which will save it as a pdf file. Rither way, be sure to RENAME the file in order to preserve the original file. Hope this helps.

Re: Best way to redact a PDF (free preferably)?

iv — Tue, 15 Jan 2019 01:35:35 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Anyone know of a good preferably free way to fully redact a pdf? I would like to share my report with someone but plan on going through it with a fine tooth comb to extract anything sensitive. There is a product from Adobe but it costs $195. The solution I am looking for would have to come from a reputable source and scrub all metadata.

Thanks.

Yeah... the best/cleanest way really is Acrobat Pro. Yeah... it's expensive (but cheaper than it used to be).

The redaction tool in Acrobat Pro fully removes areas marked for redaction, and all hidden layers, metadata, etc.

You could do the monthly subscription for about $25 for a single month and then cancel...

@rbentley wrote:
Print the PDF. Use a marker to redact any sensitive info. Rescan redacted copy as a new PDF. Share it.

Yup. That works. It's messy and can make the resulting PDF look like a bad photocopy... but it's free and reasonably foolproof.

Not a bad option if you don't want to buy Acrobat Pro.

@SOGGIE wrote:
Open the pdf file using Microsoft Word. Select the area you wish to redact. Select the 'Highight' icon. Choose the black color option. Save file as pdf or use MS's 'Print to PDF' option--which will save it as a pdf file. Rither way, be sure to RENAME the file in order to preserve the original file. Hope this helps.

NO.

That is NOT a valid way to actually redact information - it's a good way to think you've redacted info, while actually leaving it fully available!

Doing this just results in black-on-black text in the PDF. That would be ok if you then printed the document out... but sending someone that PDF means giving them access to the full original text. (Hint: try highlighting and copying it...)

It's a common mistake, though, one that's caused problems for quite a few companies and government agencies over the years...

Re: Best way to redact a PDF (free preferably)?

Remedios — Tue, 15 Jan 2019 18:49:25 GMT

Thanks, Iv, that's really good to know

Re: Best way to redact a PDF (free preferably)?

SOGGIE — Wed, 16 Jan 2019 04:04:54 GMT

@Remedios wrote:
Thanks, Iv, that's really good to know

Actually, once you open the odf file in MS Word, substitute the Soc Sec digits as such, XXX-XX-XXXX. You can then highlight the substitution in black. Save the file with the modified SSN.

Re: Best way to redact a PDF (free preferably)?

iv — Fri, 18 Jan 2019 22:38:24 GMT

@SOGGIE wrote:
Actually, once you open the odf file in MS Word, substitute the Soc Sec digits as such, XXX-XX-XXXX. You can then highlight the substitution in black. Save the file with the modified SSN.

Again, that does nothing to remove metadata. (Although it's at least better than just making the text black-on-black...)

What you can't see.. can still exist, and hurt your privacy. There are only two good ways to redact a PDF - the print/marker/scan route, or using proper redaction software. Ignoring this has caused countless data leaks from businesses and government agencies. Please don't make the same mistakes with your personal data.