How to Redact a PDF

How does PDF redaction work on Notriv?

• PDF redaction on Notriv is free and needs no account.
• The PDF is redacted in your browser and is never uploaded to Notriv.
• You mark what to remove by drawing boxes over the page.
• Each page with a box is rebuilt as an image with the boxes burned in black, so the text under them is gone from the file.
• Pages without boxes are kept as they were, unless you choose to flatten every page.
• Files up to 150 MB can be redacted.
• A password-protected PDF can be redacted once you enter its password; every page of it is flattened.
• The title, author, subject, keywords and creator of the redacted file are cleared.
• You can undo up to 25 changes, or clear a page or every box.
• The result downloads as a new PDF named redacted- followed by the original file name.

What must be redacted from a court filing?

Unless the court orders otherwise, a federal court filing (electronic or paper) may show only the last four digits of a social-security number and taxpayer-identification number, only the year of a birth date, only the initials of a known minor, and only the last four digits of a financial-account number.¹

When is redaction not required?

The redaction rule does not apply to six things: a financial-account number identifying property allegedly subject to forfeiture in a forfeiture proceeding; the record of an administrative or agency proceeding; the official record of a state-court proceeding; a court or tribunal record that was not subject to redaction when originally filed; filings covered by Rule 5.2(c) or (d); and pro se filings in actions under 28 U.S.C. §§ 2241, 2254, or 2255.²

Can an unredacted copy be filed?

Someone who files a redacted document may also file an unredacted copy under seal, and the court must keep that copy as part of the record.³

What if you file your own information unredacted?

A person gives up the redaction protection for their own information if they file it unredacted and not under seal.⁴

Should a business keep personal information it does not need?

Businesses should not keep, or even collect, sensitive personally identifying information unless they have a legitimate business need for it.⁵

Open the redaction tool.

Open the redaction tool on Notriv to remove what should not be shared.