Overview

Traditionally, redacting a PDF proceeds by marking confidential text or part of an image in Acrobat or similar to permanently remove it (and any underlying content like notes, highlights, etc.) and replace it with a black box. Often, a code is applied too, representing the reason for a redaction, and a list of such redactions are filed in a privileged or redaction log.

Redactions in MasterFile are created using extracts to which you've set an initial redaction status of Pending.

Once applied, a black redaction icon indicates "Redacted" as below.

All redaction settings, status codes and error messages are found in the Redaction section at the top of an extract profile.

Basic operation

For text,

  1. Simply highlight the relevant section and make an extract.
  2. Expand the Redaction section, and set the Redaction status to "Pending".
  3. Save and close the extract.

Now you can Preview or Apply redaction(s).

Redacting vector graphics (drawings that scale without pixelation like charts, graphs, icons, shapes, etc. as opposed to photographs) takes a slightly different process: use "Redact with external tool" to open those documents in either Kofax PowerPDF or Acrobat and draw redaction rectangles over the areas to redact. When you've finished marking any areas to be redacted in those, switch back to MasterFile. MasterFile will close the PDFs and create redaction extracts for the rectangles automatically. Full details are provided in here.

Redaction Tools

Redaction tools operate on redactions or documents selected. If you choose a document, all of its redactions will be processed. If you choose selected redactions for a document, only those redactions will be processed.

Redaction tools let you:

  • View the redacted or un-redacted copy of a document. If you select a redaction, then just the pages of the document for the redaction will be shown.
  • Preview a redaction without applying it so you can check it will redact the required text. This is useful when applying redactions across several pages or "Search string" redactions.
  • Apply or clear redactions to a document.
    NOTE:  that individual redactions can't be cleared. If you choose to clear a redaction, all other redactions are also cleared and must be reapplied.
  • Create "Rectangle" reductions with Kofax Power PDF or Acrobat.
  • Copy and apply redactions to other documents so that you can apply the same redaction in bulk across many documents at one go.