Every year, someone shares a "redacted" document where the black box was just a shape drawn on top of the text — and the original text is still there, selectable underneath. Real redaction removes the content entirely.
1. Understand why drawing a black box isn't enough
If you draw a black rectangle over text in a PDF, in many cases the text is still in the document's underlying layer and can be selected, copied, or extracted. Proper redaction tools remove the underlying content from the file, not just paint over it.
2. Identify everything that needs redacting
Before you start, scan the whole document for names, addresses, account numbers, signatures, and metadata like author name and revision history.
3. Redact the document
- Open ClarixPDF's redact tool at clarixpdf.com/redact.
- Upload the PDF.
- Select each piece of text or area to redact.
- Apply the redactions — this produces a new file with the marked content actually removed.
4. Verify before you send
Open the redacted file and try to select text under the black boxes — it shouldn't be selectable. Use Ctrl+F to search for redacted terms — they shouldn't be findable.
5. Keep the original separately
Always keep an unredacted original in a secure location.