"Black out" Text into PDF

[DeanH]

Word 2003 on XP (both SP2)
I need to "black out" some confidential text in a document, which then
requires PDFing. But whatever I have tried, black highlight, black
background, etc., still allows the confidential text to be selected, copied
and pasted into a new application (Word again).
Has anyone have a solution or workaround so the confidential text is not
selectable in Acrobat?
Many thanks in advance.
DeanH

 

[Graham Mayor]

Use SnagIt (there's a working trial) to create a bitmap image(s) of the
redacted document page(s) and then print the bitmap(s) to PDF and if
necessary use Acrobat to combine the PDFs into a single document.

If you create PDFs from bitmaps there is no text in the document to select -
just a series of black splodges.

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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[DeanH]

Hi Graham.
Thanks for the response, the document is over 200 pages and the number of
"redacted" pages is over 100 so far and growing :-(
I have found on the MS website "Redaction Add-in for 2003", has anyone used
this that can tell me if it is worth while?
All the best
DeanH

 

[Graham Mayor]

The number of pages shouldn't affect the suggested method.
The SnagIt printer driver will output each page as a separate file. However
on further testing if you set the SnagIt output to PDF the process outputs
the whole document as a series of graphics in PDF format as a single PDF
file, precluding the requirement for a separate process with Acrobat. Try
it!

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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[DeanH]

Hi Graham.
Many thanks for the resposne, I downloaded the Redaction add-in from MS
site, works very well EXCEPT on the document I need to do quickly, all the
tests I have done work wonderfully. On the document I need to redact I get an
error message that Redact could not complete and try later :-(

Anyway, I have downloaded SnagIt trails, can you explain how you did the
full document PDF, as I cannot find the instructions, method to do so.

Many thanks
DeanH

 

[DeanH]

Hi Graham, Redact AddIn error solved.
There was one image half way through the document that for some reason the
AddIn did not like and would error out.
I rejigged the image and reset it into the document, now no error.

I would still like to know the sequence you used with SnagIt for future
reference.
Maybe the trail does not have full functionality?
All the best
DeanH

 

[Graham Mayor]

The trial of SnagIt does have full functionality. From the SnagIt program
tools > SnagIt Printer capture settings set the output to file (preview in
editor if you wish to monitor) and the file properties to PDF. Print to the
SnagIt driver.

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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[Graham Mayor]

P.S. Use a black highlight to redact the text when using SnagIt.

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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[DeanH]

Hi Graham.
Yes, I did use the black highlight to redact the text when using SnagIt.
Many thanks for the instructions to get the PDF of the whole document via
SnagIt print. Unfortunately the output was 18MB :-(
The customer requested 5MB max, where the original Word file (non-redact
version) was ok at 5MB.
Also the quality was not very good, are there any options to change the
resolution in SnagIt?
I used the Redaction AddIn (for 2003) and after a few hiccups got it working
well and got a resulting Redact version at 2.5MB. Keep the customer happy
Many thanks and all the best
DeanH

 

[Graham Mayor]

I believe you can change the resolution from the adfvanced properties of the
SnagIt driver, but that will probably make your file even larger.

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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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