Cancel Redactions?

[PHK]

Suppose I mis-select a page area for redaction and I want to undo the selection. I see no way of doing that without carrying on with the redaction and then doing an "undo." As a novice PDF-XCE user, I am sure there is someone out there who can advise me on how to cancel a redaction selection.

Thanking you in advance,

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, PHK

So long as you have not clicked "apply" yet, you can simply click on a defined redaction area to select it like any other comment, and then press delete to delete that one instance, without needing to "undo" everything you placed after the fact.

If you have already applied the redaction and saved the file, it is not possible to undo in any way...

Kind regards,

[PHK]

Hello, PHK

So long as you have not clicked "apply" yet, you can simply click on a defined redaction area to select it like any other comment, and then press delete to delete that one instance, without needing to "undo" everything you placed after the fact.

If you have already applied the redaction and saved the file, it is not possible to undo in any way...

Kind regards,

Okay, now suppose I have moved off the page and have forgotten what was marked for redaction and I cannot find the marked area on any the several hundred pages in the document, then what do I do?

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, PHK

than you could open the comments pane and sort by "type" to see all unapplied redactions listed. It isn't a perfect solution, but it may help narrow down where to look.

Kind regards,

[PHK]

Hello, PHK

than you could open the comments pane and sort by "type" to see all unapplied redactions listed. It isn't a perfect solution, but it may help narrow down where to look.

Kind regards,

Thank you for that, Daniel, it does the trick and had not occurred to me.

However, I would not say that is ideal. It might be nice if there were more of a UI item that did that for users. For instance, in the redaction bar that appears above the document window it would seem that there is room for another tick box to undo the selection. But maybe that's just me.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, PHK

That would be a bit of a unique function, not many tools have a "delete" tool that is custom made for them. It would be similar to seeing a "delete field" tool in the form toolbars, or a special "delete highlights" tool, that doesnt work on other comments...

As redaction is simply a comment until it is applied, from the UI perspective, the "right click > delete" tool, or the delete button in the comments pane both serve that purpose already:

image.png

Kind regards,

[PHK]

Hello, PHK

That would be a bit of a unique function, not many tools have a "delete" tool that is custom made for them. It would be similar to seeing a "delete field" tool in the form toolbars, or a special "delete highlights" tool, that doesnt work on other comments...

As redaction is simply a comment until it is applied, from the UI perspective, the "right click > delete" tool, or the delete button in the comments pane both serve that purpose already:
image.png

Kind regards,

Fair enough, but I may not be unique in failing to recognize "redaction" as being in the Comments category. It seems to me that the hallmark of really excellent software is that it accomodates as many human shortcomings as is reasonable.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, PHK

A good point, perhaps the dev team could add a "show selection in comment pane" button to the toolbar, which would help to increase that awareness (and help with another recent request we have had in relation to the redact InfoBar). It would also be a helpful tool for any selected comment, instead of being something specific to this one.

Kind regards,

[PHK]

Excellent! I look forward to seeing what can be done. This is a particularly elusive issue as the open, unresolved redaction selection only appears in the Comments panel whilst it is unresolved; once it has been accepted it in no longer indicated in the Comments panel.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, PHK

That much is expected, as "applying" the redaction is a combination of "flatten this comment into base content, and scrub (delete) all content present behind it.

Kind regards,

[PHK]

...
That much is expected, as "applying" the redaction is a combination of "flatten this comment into base content, and scrub (delete) all content present behind it.
...

Of course. I am quite happy with the way redaction works; it just made it difficult for me to intuit that the interim phase between selection and execution would be in Comments. But so long as I know where it is as I do now, all is fine.

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

[MedBooster]

On a similar note, I don't see a cancel button here, only a hide button. I guess you have to start the redaction and undo it, or close and reopen the program? (once you have started redacting and get this message box to apply (confirm) the redactions)

There only seems to be a hide button on the very right side.

image.png

Logically, when I closed the program while this was open, I am struggling to reopen the program again... Might have to run a restart
So maybe a cancel button would be good to have?

Not a big deal though

[PHK]

Hi, MedBooster, there is another option you may or may not know is available. Redaction selections appear in the Comments panel just like Highlights, etc. And, as such, they can be selectively or wholesale deleted (i., e., NOT redacted, or canceled to use your word). Oops, I guess I used it early on.

[MedBooster]

actually reopening PDF-XCE the apply redaction menu is still there, so I guess you just have to run it and undo it?

SO I guess my actual question is:
How do you cancel *unapplied* redactions?

[Dimitar - PDF-XChange]

Hello MedBooster,

You can delete the unapplied redactions from the Commens Pane:

image.png

Once that is done, you have to save the changes made to the file.

If this doesn't work on your end, please send us the file itself for investigation.


Regards.

[PHK]

...

You can delete the unapplied redactions from the Commens Pane:

...

Isn't that what I wrote, LOL?

[Dimitar - PDF-XChange]

[MedBooster]

yes I understood that, so no cancel button I understand, it's like a two step process I guess.

Luckily you can filter by color and then only see the redactions if they have an exclusive color no other annotation has — for me #FF0000

image.png

[Willy Van Nuffel]

Hi,

In the Comments pane, do not "Group by Color" but "Group by Type".

Then you will find a group called "Redaction".

That will make it easier to delete them (one by one, per selection, or all at once).

Kind regards.

[Dimitar - PDF-XChange]

Yes, no Cancel button.