PDF files are used primarily for business reasons. So, sometimes it is important to hide or remove information therein or metadata from the file. To achieve this, you can use the Adobe Acrobat editing tool which allows you to completely delete part of a document. Manual text editing will allow you to scroll through the file for parts to edit. Writing certain words or phrases will also allow you to automatically write certain words or phrases. You need to somehow eliminate hidden information or metadata that contains the document author's name, keywords, and copyright information. By default, the edit points are black boxes, but you can change them to whatever color you want or replace them with empty spaces, which eliminates the content.
Steps
Method 1 of 5: Edit the document
Step 1. Open Adobe Acrobat
You've probably saved it to your desktop, but you're going to need to find it on your computer. The easiest way is to use a search function. On a PC, you will find a search bar at the bottom left, on a Mac, at the top right.
Step 2. Open the file
Click on Edit, then find the file in question.
Step 3. Open Edit Content
Step 4. Select the item to delete
Press Delete. The item is now deleted.
Method 2 of 5: Manually edit the content
Step 1. Open Adobe Acrobat
You might have saved it to your desktop, but you need to look for it if it doesn't. Use the search function for your operating system. For Windows, there is a search bar at the bottom left, for Mac, at the top right.
Step 2. Open the file
Click on Edit, then find the file you want.
Step 3. Choose the editing tool
Select Tools, then Edit. On Adobe Acrobat XI, you will find it in the start menu under the option Obfuscate and remove content.
Step 4. Find the item to delete
It could be anything in the document, even photos. Once you find it, you just need to select it. You can double-click or select it before dragging, as you prefer. To select multiple points, hold down the Ctrl key while clicking on the items you want.
- If you want to see an edit mark appear on the pages, for example a header or a footer in the same place on all the pages, right click and select Copy the mark on all pages.
- In the Adobe Acrobat XI intro menu, you will see two options called Mark for Editing and Mark the pages to edit under Obfuscate and remove content. These are the two buttons that you can use depending on how much text you want to remove. Then select the content to delete on the pages.
Step 5. Click Apply or OK
You will see these two buttons in an opening dialog or second toolbar. In the Adobe Acrobat XI Startup menu or toolbar, you must click Apply the changes to edit the elements.
Step 6. Save the document
Your edit is now complete.
Method 3 of 5: Edit specific words or phrases
Step 1. Open Adobe Acrobat
You may have saved it to your desktop, but you can search to find it. The easiest way to do this is to use the search bar. On a PC, it is at the bottom left, on a Mac, it is at the top right.
Step 2. Open the file
Click on Edit file, then find the PDF file.
Step 3. Choose the editing tool
Select Tools, then Edit.
Step 4. Set the tool
On the secondary toolbar, click Mark for Editing, then on Find the text.
Step 5. Choose what you want to edit
Select Tools, then Edit on earlier versions of Adobe Acrobat XI (eg Adobe Acrobat X and earlier). On Adobe Acrobat XI you will find them in the start menu under the option Obfuscate and remove content. To edit only a few terms or a single section on the page, select Mark for Editing. Choose whether you want to edit a single word or a single sentence or multiple words or multiple sentences. To find patterns, for example phone numbers, the numbers of some bank cards, or other formulas, select Schematics.
Step 6. Find and delete them
Click on Find and delete text.
Step 7. Confirm the changes
Press + to see all the parts that will be edited. You can edit everything in the list or manually scroll through the list and choose what you want to edit.
- To edit partial words, select Edit marking option, then Mark partial words for editing. Choose a number and location of characters for editing.
- On Adobe Acrobat XI and later, click the option Apply editing in the toolbar on the right.
Step 8. Select Apply or OK
The button should be in the dialog box or secondary toolbar that appears. In the menu or the start bar of Adobe Acrobat XI, you must select Apply the changes to edit items.
Step 9. Save the document
You have finished editing.
Method 4 of 5: Eliminate hidden information
Step 1. Open Adobe Acrobat
It might be saved to your desktop, but if it isn't, you'll need to find it. The best way to do this is through the search bar. Computers with Windows will display it at the bottom left, computers with Macs will have it at the top right.
Step 2. Open the file
Click on Edit file, then find the PDF file to edit.
Step 3. Choose your editing tool
Click on Tools, then on Edit.
Step 4. Select Remove Hidden Information
You will see this option in the secondary toolbar under the heading Hidden information.
Step 5. Choose the hidden content to delete
Check what you want to delete. The data you see now is metadata, comments, and attachments. Check the boxes next to the information you would like to delete.
- By pressing the + located next to each type of item and sub-item in the dialog box, you will be able to see all the items you need to delete. Those that are checked will be deleted once you confirm.
Step 6. Click Remove
Confirm by pressing OK. These buttons are located above the sections with the check boxes in the Adobe Acrobat XI dialog box.
Step 7. Save the file
This is an essential step.
Method 5 of 5: Change edit marks
Step 1. Open Adobe Acrobat
This method will help you change the software's default marks, i.e. black boxes. You may find the program on your desktop, but you may also need to search for it on your computer. The easiest way is to go through the search bar. If you're using a PC, you'll see it at the bottom left, if you're using a Mac, you'll see it at the top right.
Step 2. Choose Properties
You will see it in the secondary toolbar.
Step 3. Open the Appearance tab
On newer versions (e.g. Adobe Acrobat XI and later) it won't be a tab, but it will be a drop-down menu with a watering can and a filled square with a down arrow on the right.
Step 4. Choose a color
Click on Fill color of the edited area to choose a color for the marks. Choose No color to leave the area blank. On Adobe Acrobat XI, you only need to click on the color from the screen or on the option No color.