How to delete text?

[dav-w@online.no]

How to delete text in a PDF?

[Dimitar - PDF-XChange]

Hello dav-w,

Welcome to our Forum.


Please try this:

image.png

https://help.pdf-xchange.com/pdfxe10/co ... ls_ed.html


Regards.

[rakunavi]

Hello dav-w,

If you want to use PDF-Tools to remove base content text from multiple files at once, try combining the "Crop Pages" action with the "Sanitize Document" action.

Specifically, the following three processes are performed. Please watch the video for details.

1. The first "Crop Pages" action minimizes the page size to hide all text in the document.
2. The "Sanitize Document" action is executed to delete the hidden text.
3. The second "Crop Pages" action cancels the crop and returns the page to its original size.

• Video.webm

=== UPDATE ===================================================================
The issue reported below has been resolved in Ver 10.7.0 build 398.
I appreciate all the hard work and efforts of the support and development team.
==============================================================================

@PDF-XChange Support

As you can see in the 1st video above, the second "Crop Pages" action in the above procedure applies cropping in a rather aggressive manner. Specifically, you can finally make the action work by enabling "Cropped Page Size" and changing the width from 595.28 pt to 595.27 pt.

At first glance, it seems that the second "Crop Pages" action should apply the same cropping process as "Set To Zero" without changing the settings, but as shown in the second video below, this operation actually causes an error and the action is skipped.

• error.png

As a test, open the output file in which the second "Crop Pages" action was not applied due to an error in PDF-Tools using PDF-XChange Editor. Then, apply "Set To Zero" using the "Crop Pages" tool in PDF-XChange Editor, and the processing will be applied as intended.

When processing with the "Crop Pages" tool in PDF-XChange Editor, the file is already open and the page size is known. Therefore, based on that information, if it is determined that the user's settings in the dialog box will not cause any changes, it would make sense to gray out the OK button in the dialog box so that it cannot be clicked, thereby restricting user operations.

However, in PDF-Tools, it is naturally unclear at the configuration stage what characteristics the file passed from the previous action ill have. So, rather than simply reusing the functionality of PDF-XChange Editor, there might be room for improvement, such as revising the conditions for restricting the application of cropping.

• Video2.webm

Additionally, I am afraid to point out very minor details, but PDF-Tools is registered in the Start menu as "PDF Tools." In other words, it does not include a hyphen-minus. Perhaps it would be better to standardize the name, as the official name probably includes a hyphen-minus.

• figure.png

Best regards,
rakunavi

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, rakunavi

Thank you for the report, and the helpful solution. We will look into the bug you mentioned there, however, I should note that a much more reliable way to restore the document to its original size, it to leave the second instance of the crop tool on its default settings. Specifically, these:

image.png

This will effectively remove the previous crop margins and restore the page to its pre-cropping size, without needing manual size entry (This also makes the tool more versatile, since it is not limited to only working on a single pre-defined sheet size).

• [A quick edit - I realized that this is not properly possible in the current release. I am using an internal pre-release build at the moment, and it seems the OK button is properly lit up for use here now. So this should be resolved for the version 10.7!
  Sorry for the confusuion!]

Also, I know this post is in the Tools forum, but I should mention that if you wish to perform a similar process with the Editor, it is even easier than using PDF-Tools!
Simply open the file, and with the Hand tool active, right click anywhere in the document. then use "Select > text" and finally push the delete key once:

image(1).png

This will remove all base-content text from a specific document in a single keypress, without needing to fiddle with any crop margins.

Regarding the product name, I will mention that in our next meeting.

Kind regards,

[rakunavi]

Hello Daniel, thank you for your investigation.

After reading your initial reply and conducting further verification, I created a comparison chart between the dialog you showed and my dialog, and when I returned to this forum, I found "A quick edit". I am glad that a solution is already in sight. It’s reassuring to see my understanding was aligned with yours.

Best regards,
rakunavi

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]