{{ summaryTitle }}
{{ summaryValue }}

{{ summaryLine }}

Source{{ sourceBadge }} Targets{{ computation.values.target_count }} Cleanup{{ sanitizeHiddenBool ? 'Planned' : 'Blocked' }}
Choose one PDF up to 80 MiB, or load the bounded sample to explore the workflow.
{{ sourceTitle }}
{{ sourceStatus }}
Leave blank to derive a safe -redacted filename from the source.
One phrase or regex per line. Example: /\b\d{3}-\d{2}-\d{4}\b/g.
{{ targetSourceHint }}
Optional areas for signatures, images, tables, scans, or other content text search cannot find.
Examples: all, odd, even, 1-3, 5, 8-.
Leave enabled for release work. Turning it off blocks handoff readiness.
{{ sanitizeHiddenBool ? 'Cleanup planned' : 'Cleanup not planned' }}
{{ actionLabel }}
{{ workflowFeedback }}
Default: opaque black box. This planner does not draw the mark.
Keep the label short enough to fit inside a future redaction box.
Choose 10–300 pages. Default: 100.
pages
Optional context for the operator, such as the review owner or release purpose.

{{ planCopyAnnouncement }}

  • {{ warning }}
  • {{ gate.label }}
    {{ gate.evidence }}
    {{ gate.action }}
    {{ gate.status }}

{{ chartExportStatus }}

The chart renderer is unavailable. The same gate evidence remains available in Redaction gate.

TypeTargetEvidenceNext checkCopy
{{ row.type }}{{ row.target }}{{ row.evidence }}{{ row.nextCheck }}

{{ tableExportStatus }}

  1. {{ step.title }}
    {{ step.detail }}
    {{ step.status }}
PDF Page Numberer Add page numbers to selected PDF pages locally with custom sequences and mirrored facing-page placement, then download the stamped copy.
PDF to File Converter Convert a PDF locally into editable text or page-faithful images with page-range checks, document handoffs and no source-file upload.
File to PDF Converter Turn images and text sources into local PDF output while preflighting Office files for renderer needs, layout risks and fidelity limits.
PDF Page Deleter Delete selected PDF pages in your browser, verify source-to-output renumbering, and catch range or document-integrity warnings before download.

A dark rectangle can hide words from view without removing the text, image pixels, or document data underneath. Secure PDF redaction is complete only when sensitive content is removed from the release file, hidden information is cleaned up, and the finished PDF is checked again.

PDF pages can combine selectable text, scanned images, vector graphics, annotations, form fields, signatures, attachments, metadata, accessibility text, and optional layers. Search can locate many repeated names or identifiers, but it cannot see text that exists only in pixels or recognize a signature, face, diagram, or handwritten note. An invisible optical character recognition layer can also differ from what the page appears to show.

Evidence What it can find What still needs review
Text searchNames, account numbers, email addresses, and other selectable strings or patternsScans, graphics, handwriting, alternate spellings, and content outside the searched pages
Manual areasKnown signatures, photographs, tables, or full pages that need removalAny sensitive area that the reviewer did not mark
Structural cluesSigns of metadata, annotations, attachments, scripts, forms, signatures, or layersWhether a production redactor actually removed every hidden object and stale revision

A redaction plan separates discovery from removal. It records where to look, what to remove, which pages are in scope, and which hidden-data checks belong in the release process. It does not create a redacted PDF and cannot prove that an operator found every sensitive item.

The safest review uses two files. Keep the original under appropriate access controls, produce a new release copy with a real redaction engine, and inspect that output as if it came from someone else. Search the release copy, try selecting and copying around each redaction, inspect properties and attachments, and visually check image-only pages.

The important boundary is simple: planning evidence can improve a handoff, but only content removal, hidden-data cleanup, and final-file verification make a PDF suitable for release.

How to Use This Tool:

Build a review plan for one PDF, then hand that plan to a production redaction workflow.

  1. Upload one Source PDF up to 80 MiB. Encrypted files are stopped because this planner has no password workflow.
  2. Choose Pages to review with all, odd, even, individual pages, closed ranges such as 1-3, or an open range such as 8-. Correct any range that extends beyond the document.
  3. Enter one Search target per line. Plain phrases are matched without case sensitivity; a slash-delimited regular expression may carry flags. Remove duplicate or invalid target rows before handoff.
  4. Add Manual areas for content that text search cannot find. Use page: x,y,width,height | label or page: full-page | label, with non-negative coordinates and positive width and height.
  5. Leave Hidden data cleanup enabled for release work. The planned mark style and overlay label describe the operator handoff; they do not draw marks or remove content.
  6. Build the local evidence, then read Redaction gate. A ready plan still requires true redaction, sanitization, and verification of the produced release PDF.

Interpreting Results:

The readiness percentage measures the completeness of the plan, not the security of a PDF. Ready means all five planning gates scored 100%. Review means a valid source exists but at least one gate remains incomplete. Planning means the source gate has not passed.

  • Zero selectable characters is a strong reason to use manual, image, or OCR-aware review; it is not evidence that a page contains nothing sensitive.
  • A text match confirms that a supplied pattern was found. No match confirms only that the pattern was not found in the inspected selectable text.
  • Structural risk flags are clues from a bounded file scan. Verify the final release file with a production-grade inspector.
  • If the page guard stopped inspection early, review every remaining selected page before approving the handoff.

Technical Details:

The preflight combines page selection, target parsing, selectable-text inspection, and structural risk clues into a five-gate planning model. PDF bytes remain in the browser. Text inspection reads only the selected pages up to the configurable guard of 10 to 300 pages, with 100 as the default.

Rule Core

Each gate contributes 0 or 100 points, except the target gate can contribute 50 when at least one target is valid but another is invalid. Every gate must reach 100 for handoff readiness.

Gate100-point conditionOther result
PDF sourceThe source is a valid, accepted PDF0 for missing, invalid, or oversized input
Page scopeThe source passed and at least one in-range page is selected0 otherwise
Target planAt least one target exists and none is invalid50 for a mixed valid/invalid list; 0 when no valid target remains
Hidden dataCleanup is planned0 when cleanup is disabled
Text inspectionThe current source, page scope, and targets were scanned successfully0 while waiting or after an engine or encryption error

Formula Core

The readiness score is the arithmetic mean of the five gate scores. It is displayed as a percentage without changing the underlying gate values.

R=G1+G2+G3+G4+G55

For example, disabling hidden-data cleanup while the other four gates pass yields 80%, four ready gates, and a Review status. The score does not become ready until all five gate scores equal 100.

Search and structural inspection

Phrase targets are escaped and searched globally without case sensitivity. Regular-expression targets are compiled from slash-delimited input and always gain a global flag. Duplicate target signatures and invalid expressions are reported rather than silently ignored.

Manual rectangles accept a page number followed by x, y, width, and height. Coordinates are planning data only; they are not mapped onto or drawn into the PDF. A separate bounded byte scan looks for markers associated with metadata, annotations, embedded files, scripts, forms or signatures, and layers or accessibility structures. Those markers raise review risks but do not establish that the corresponding object is dangerous or that no unflagged object exists.

Privacy Notes:

The PDF, extracted text, target list, and manual areas stay in browser memory and are not placed in the share URL. Exporting a handoff plan is an explicit action and can disclose sensitive targets, coordinates, reviewer notes, and filenames. Store and send that evidence only through an approved channel.

The page does not rewrite, sanitize, or upload the PDF. Use a trusted production redaction system for content removal, then verify the new file independently before release.

Worked Examples:

Selectable identifiers plus a scanned signature

A three-page release contains account numbers and email addresses in selectable text, plus a signature image on page 2. Add the phrases or regular expressions as search targets and record the signature as a manual area. A 100% plan means the source, page scope, targets, cleanup intent, and text inspection are complete; it still does not mean the signature or identifiers have been removed.

Inspection stopped by the page guard

A 240-page PDF is scoped to all pages while the guard remains 100. The scan reports evidence for the first 100 selected pages and warns that the rest were not inspected. Raise the guard only if the browser can handle the file, or divide the review and document how pages 101 to 240 were checked.

References: