How to Redact a PDF in Adobe Acrobat

PDF documents are commonly used to share sensitive data, not only because it is so easy to share and open a PDF document, but also because the format allows you to employ various security options to keep the data safe. One of these security options to the ability to redact a section of the text on the document.

Redaction can allow you to share only certain sections of the document with the recipient. You can essentially keep them from accessing and even seeing huge sections of the document by simply redacting the text. But effective redaction can only be done with the right PDF editor. One of the best is Adobe Acrobat and, in this guide, we will look at how you can use this tool to redact some of the text on your document.

Part 1: How to Redact PDF with Adobe Acrobat

Adobe Acrobat remains one of the most comprehensive solutions to edit PDF documents and therefore has all the necessary features that you would need to redact any text and images on the document. The following guide shows you how to effectively use these features;

Step 1: Open the PDF and apply the Redaction

Open the PDF document that you would like to redact in Adobe Acrobat. Once the document is open, click on "Tools > Redact".

On the Edit menu that appears, select "Redact Text & images".

Select the section of text or image that you want to redact, right-click and choose "Redact". You can also click on the "Redact" option in the floating menu.

Step 2: Customize the Redaction Marks

By default, the redaction will appear in black. If you want to customize how the redaction marks appear, click on the drop-down menu next to "Redact Text & Images" and select "Properties."

The dialogue box that appears will allow you to customize the color of the redaction marks as well as other options.

Step 3: Repeat a Redaction Mark

If you would like to repeat the same redaction mark on any other section of the document, right-click on the redaction mark and select "Repeat Mark Across Pages."

Step 4: Save the Document

Once you are done marking all the redactions you would like to apply, click "Apply" in the secondary toolbar.

If you are done editing the document, you can choose "Apply & Save" and choose an appropriate filename for your document.

Pros and Cons of Redacting PDF in Adobe Acrobat

Pros

Adobe Acrobat remains one of the most reliable tools to edit PDFs in any way, including redacting some of the text and images on the document.
Any function of Acrobat that you choose to use, including redaction, can be applied to the document immediately and without affecting any of the other data on the document.
You can use Adobe Acrobat to edit locked PDFs.
You can redact large sections of the text in the document or even numerous sections easily.
There are a lot of options to redact both the text and images on the document as desired.

Cons

Adobe Acrobat’s user interface can be very difficult to navigate especially for beginner users.
You need to purchase the premium version of Adobe Acrobat to redact any of the text or images.

Part 2: The Best PDF Tool You Shouldn’t Miss

If you work with a lot of PDF documents and you seek a tool with all the necessary features you need to create, edit and convert PDFs, UPDF is the best option. This relatively new entrant into the PDF management world is designed with simplicity in mind, allowing you to make as many changes as you want to any PDF document in just a few simple steps. You can download it directly by clicking the download button below.

Here are some of the things you can do with UPDF;

It is an immensely powerful PDF editor, allowing you to edit the text, images and links on the PDF as desired.
You can also use its numerous annotation tools to add highlights, text boxes, and other elements to the PDF very easily.
Making changes to the PDF document using UPDF is just as easy. You can add and remove pages to the document, split PDF pages, merge multiple pages to a document, and even reorder and rotate the pages as desired.
It is also one of the best ways to convert a PDF document to other editable formats including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, TXT, and more. OCR capabilities make it easy to convert a scanned PDF to other formats.

Part 3: FAQs on Redacting PDFs

Why Don’t I Have Redact Tool in Adobe?

You may not see the “Redact” tool in the version of Adobe that you are using because redaction features are only available in Adobe Acrobat Pro and you’re using Adobe Acrobat Standard.

Can I Redact in Adobe Reader?

No, you cannot use Adobe Reader to redact text on a PDF document as the features you need are only available on Adobe Acrobat Pro.

What Version of Adobe Has the Redaction Tool?

The redaction tool that you need to redact text on your PDF document is only available in Adobe Acrobat Pro. To access this feature, you will need to purchase a subscription to Adobe Acrobat Pro DC.

Does Adobe Acrobat Standard DC Support Redaction?

No. The redaction is a feature that can only be accessed on Adobe Acrobat Pro. Adobe Acrobat Standard DC has a lot of other useful features, but it will not be useful to you if redaction is the feature you need.

Conclusion

Redacting text and images on a PDF document can be one of the best ways to protect your data. It allows you to share only the relevant content, keeping confidential information from unauthorized access. But to redact a file properly, you need a PDF editor that has the necessary tools to facilitate this process. So, we will recommend UPDF for you, as it can solve all the PDF-related problems. Download it today, and enjoy the journey with it!