Black out parts of a PDF
Remove text or pictures from a PDF — blacked out or blurred.
To black out or blur part of a PDF:
- Open Black out parts of a PDF from the tools list — the editor opens with Black out already turned on, ready to draw. (You can also click Black out in the page toolbar below the canvas at any time.)
- Drop your PDF.
- Drag a box on the page over what you want to remove. A note above the page reads: "Anything you cover is removed from the file, not just hidden."
- With a box selected, click Black or Blurred to choose how it looks (Black is the default for a new box).
- Draw as many boxes as you need, on any page. A strip under the toolbar shows how many you've drawn, with Clear all to remove every box at once and Done when you're finished. Click a box's × to remove just that one.
- Click Export.
What you'll see when it's done: boxes are drawn on the page as you make them — solid black or softly blurred, matching what you chose — so you see exactly what will disappear before you export. With only Black out turned on, Export reads Black out & download (& save on desktop).
"Draw at least one area to black out" if you try to export with nothing drawn.
The strip's ⓘ button also states the limits plainly: "Only what's inside the boxes is removed — text that runs outside them stays." and "Details saved with the file — like its title or author — aren't part of this. Use Sanitize PDF for those." — Black out removes content from the page; it doesn't touch the file's saved title, author or other document details. For those, use Sanitize PDF.