Draw redaction boxes over sensitive content, assign a privilege reason, and download a permanently redacted PDF. Redactions are applied by rasterizing each page at 300 DPI — the original text is irrecoverably removed. All processing happens in your browser.

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About PDF Privilege Redaction

What is Permanent PDF Redaction?

True redaction means the underlying text or image data is permanently destroyed — not just visually hidden. A black rectangle drawn on top of text in a PDF editor does not constitute proper redaction because the original text may still be extractable from the file. Permanent redaction requires converting the page to a flat image so that nothing beneath the black box can be recovered.

How This Tool Works

This tool uses a rasterize-and-rebuild approach. After you mark your redactions, each page is rendered to a canvas at 300 DPI using pdf.js. The black redaction boxes (with their privilege labels) are drawn directly on the rendered canvas image. The flattened image is then compressed as JPEG and embedded into a new PDF via pdf-lib. The result is a document where the redacted content is gone at the pixel level — there is no hidden text layer to extract.

Privilege Labels

Each redaction box displays the applicable privilege reason: Attorney-Client Privilege, Work Product Doctrine, Confidential, Personal Information, Trade Secret, or a custom label you define.

300 DPI Rasterization

Pages are rendered at 300 DPI — high enough to maintain readability of surrounding text while permanently eliminating the content beneath each redaction box.

Multi-Page Support

Navigate between pages with the Prev/Next buttons. Redactions accumulate across pages and are all applied when you click "Apply Redactions & Download."

Privacy First

All processing happens entirely in your browser. Your PDF is never uploaded to any server — appropriate for attorney-client materials, work product, and other privileged documents.

When to Use Privilege Redaction

  • Document production: Redact privileged portions before producing responsive documents in discovery
  • Court filings: Remove personal information (SSNs, dates of birth, financial account numbers) before filing public records
  • Client communications: Remove third-party confidential information before sharing a document with a client
  • Contract review: Redact pricing and terms before sharing a contract template with opposing counsel
  • FOIA responses: Apply exemption-based redactions to responsive records before release

Verify Before Filing

Always verify your redactions in the downloaded PDF before filing or producing. Open the output file and confirm that the redacted areas show only the black box — no underlying text should be visible or selectable. Because the output is an image-based PDF, text selection tools will not work on the content, which confirms the redaction is complete.