blacking out not really blacking out

[namsilat]

I wanted to blank out parts of a document before I send it off, so I changed color of highlight to black and used that over the parts I wanted concealed. After saving it, I opened it again to ensure it's done properly, that's when I noticed the little delay while loading the PDF document all the information is loaded without the black highlight quickly flashed by, then the black coloration applied later. Just to test to see how significant was the delay while loading, I was able to grab a screenshot of all the information just before the black color was applied. In other words, someone else opening the document could have done the same and see all the information I was trying to blank out.

Is there a more "permanent" way of blanking out parts of a document?

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

Hi namsilat,

the reason you are seeing this is because the black highlights you used are comments and comments are rendered after the base content. How obvious this is will depend on the system resources of the machine on which the file is opened. If the machine has plenty of resources this will be barely visible, if thewre are any delays in rendering because of the available resources then you will see the text before the highlight as you have noted.

You can try to 'Flatten' the comments first: Comments --> Flatten Comments. See my attached sample - I set the highlight to black using a blend mode of 'Normal' (Highlights are by default set to Blend Mode Multiply. This article explains the idea al be it in reverse, the concept is the same https://www.pdf-xchange.com/knowled ... s-the-text)

Things to note about flattening the comments:
1. The content is treated as a part of the base document so the comments will no longer be 'selectable' or 'deleteable'.
2. The flattening process cannot be 'undone' so be sure you have it as you want it before using it or save a copy first.

The content that you have hidden is still in the document and a skilled person could still retrieve it. If you want true 'redaction' as used in the courts that will not only hide but remove content then wait for V3 in the Autumn which will sport true redaction.

A license for the Viewer purchased now will include the rights to upgrade for free to V3 when it is released.

hth