Permanently black out sensitive rectangles of a PDF page by flattening it to an image, removing the text beneath.
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Areas to black out
Position and size are percentages of the page (0-100), measured from the top-left corner. Redacted pages are flattened to images — the underlying text and graphics are permanently removed, not just covered.
Permanently black out sensitive areas of a PDF. Because a black box drawn over text without removing the text is not a real redaction, this tool flattens each redacted page into an image — the text and graphics underneath the box are gone completely, not just hidden.
Remove visible sensitive content from selected PDF regions by rasterizing and flattening the affected output. A rectangle drawn with an ordinary editor is not redaction. Check the downloaded file by searching and selecting text, and review other pages and document metadata separately.
Drawing a black rectangle over text in most editors only covers it. The words stay in the file and can be copied, searched or revealed by deleting the rectangle, and many leaked "redacted" documents failed exactly this way.
Fileixa removes the content for real. Every page you mark is turned into an image with the black boxes burned in, and the PDF is rebuilt from those images, so no text or graphics survive underneath anywhere on that page.
Because redacted pages become images, their text can no longer be selected or searched. Pages you did not mark are untouched. For long documents, redact only the pages that need it; you can OCR the result afterwards if you need searchable text back.
No — because affected pages are rasterized to images, there is no text layer left to copy, search, or extract, unlike a black box drawn on top of live text.
Redacted pages become images instead of vector text, so file size and appearance can change slightly (text is no longer selectable on those pages); this is the necessary tradeoff for a genuinely secure redaction.
Looking for an iLovePDF alternative? Compare PDF editing, conversion, forms and watermark removal, then choose the Fileixa tool that fits your task.
Choose the right PDF editing workflow: add text or images, fill form fields, place a signature, or convert existing paragraphs to Word for revision.
A black box over text usually leaves it in the file. How real redaction works, why "redacted" documents leak, and a checklist to use before sharing.