Redact, find personal data and finalize

This article shows how to remove confidential content from a PDF for good, find personal data before you share a file, and mark an approved document as final.

Redact, Blackout and Whiteout compared

The Security tab has three ways to hide content. Only Redact removes it from the file.

Redact content

1. Open the PDF.
2. On the Security tab, click Redact & Blackout. The panel opens with Mark for Redaction selected.
3. Drag across each area you want to remove. You can mark areas on several pages.
4. To adjust a mark, click Move / resize marks, then drag the mark or its handles. Press Delete to remove a selected mark.
5. Click Review & Apply.
6. Read the confirmation, then click Apply redactions. Click Keep editing to go back.
7. Save the result under a new name with File › Save As (Ctrl+Shift+S).

The Apply button at the right of the document tabs shows how many marks are waiting. When the redaction finishes, the app shows Changes written into the document.

What Apply does

• Content inside every marked area is removed, on all marked pages together.
• Other text on the same page stays selectable and editable after you save and reopen the file.
• Pages without marks keep their original text and artwork.
• Characters that touch a marked area are removed as whole characters.
• Artwork or images that cross a mark are replaced with a cleaned image at the same position. This can change the resolution of that object, not of the whole page.
• The saved PDF is rebuilt as a new file. Unused original resources and hidden marked text are dropped.

What is not carried over

The redacted PDF is a new file. These items from the original are not included:

• Document metadata
• Attachments
• Links
• Digital signatures
• Interactive form fields. Their visible appearance is flattened onto the page first, so the filled values still show.

Cover content with Whiteout

Whiteout is useful for hiding a small mistake on a printout, not for protecting data.

1. On the Security tab, click Whiteout.
2. Drag over the area to cover in white.
3. Click Apply to write the change into the document, then save.

You can also select text with Select Text and choose Whiteout Text from the selection menu.

Search for personal data

Requires Business edition or higher

Search Personal Data scans the text of the open PDF for patterns that often count as personal data under Indonesian privacy rules (UU PDP). It looks for:

• NIK (KTP) numbers
• NPWP numbers
• Card numbers (checked with the Luhn algorithm)
• Bank account numbers that follow words such as "rek", "rekening" or "a/c"
• Phone numbers
• Email addresses
• Dates of birth that follow words such as "lahir" or "DOB"
• Passport numbers

To run a scan:

1. Open the PDF.
2. On the Security tab, click Search Personal Data.
3. Read the results in the Privacy Scan panel.

Each result group shows the type, the risk level (high risk or medium risk), how many were found, and the page. Values are partly masked, for example 08**********90. The scan only reports what it finds. Use Redact to remove the items you do not want to share.

• If nothing is found, the panel shows Clean — nothing detected.
• A scanned PDF has no text to search. Run OCR first. See OCR.
• Click Scan another file to scan a different PDF.

Finalize an approved document

Requires Pro edition or higher

Finalize Document prepares an approved PDF for distribution. It is on both the Security and eSign tabs.

1. Open the approved PDF.
2. Click Finalize Document.
3. In Mark as, keep FINAL or type another label (up to 20 characters).
4. In Approved by, type the approver's name and job title.
5. Choose the options:
   • Diagonal FINAL watermark on every page adds the label as a light diagonal watermark.
   • Footer line with date and approver adds a small footer with the label, date and time, and approver.
   • Lock against editing (owner password — opening stays free) sets an owner password. Anyone can open the file, but editing is restricted. Type the owner password in the box below the option.
6. Click Finalize.

Finalize always flattens form fields, so nobody can type into them any more. The result opens in a new tab with -final in its name. Save it with File › Save As. The app also adds a record with the document fingerprint (SHA-256) to the Activity Log. See Automation.