The growing popularity of digital documentation is becoming more and more obvious, and for that matter, PDFs represent very desirable formats for keeping and sharing information that can be sensitive. However, before this is done, it is of utter importance to ensure that these documents are redacted.

In recent years, more and more companies and entrepreneurs rely on free offline PDF reduction software.

Have you ever wondered what software tools are to be taken into consideration? In this article, we will discuss the 10 best tools to redact PDF free offline, but before discussing them any further, let’s first understand a little bit more about what a PDF Redaction tool is.

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What is a PDF Redaction Tool?

A PDF redaction tool is a software application whose role is to make sure the users can remove any sort of confidential or sensitive information from PDF documents. This is done to stop any access that is not authorized, as well as to protect sensitive data.

These tools offer many advanced and interesting features. For instance, most software products offer page, image, and text redaction options, while the redacted information can also be protected. These tools are used in many different sectors.

Let’s now consider the factors when choosing the right tool to redact PDF free offline.

The most important factors when getting PDF Redaction Software are:

Now, with all this having been mentioned, let’s have a look at our 10 top choices that will give you the best experience ever!

Gemoo Snap

Are you looking for a screenshot function that will, at the same time, mask any kind of sensitive information? If yes, then Gemoo Snap has that function and even more, from beautifying to redacting. The best part is that it is easy to use, and there are many options at your disposal, from sharing URL links to copy paste function. This screenshot tool is free, and its rich features are compatible with Windows and Mac.

Auto-hide Sensitive Information in PDF

Auto-hide Sensitive Information in PDF

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Pricing: Free version is available. The Basic package costs $7.99 per month, and the Pro Plan is $9.99 per month.

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PDFelement

FDFelement is the real deal when you need to edit, make, convert, or remove sensitive information that you don’t want to be shown in your document. The professional tools it comes with will allow you to redact or transform your PDF files in any way you want.

With this amazing software, any document elements can be redacted. The additional features include merge, split, insert, annotate, and many others. What makes it even better is that a password can be added to prevent any access that is not authorized.

PDFelement Interface

PDFelement Interface

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Pricing: This software offers a one-year ($79.99) and a two-year plan ($109.99), as well as a perpetual plan ($129.99)

PDF Reader Pro

Commonly seen as one of the better tools for editing documents, this tool is convenient for all users and is available on Windows, Android, iOS, and Mac. Even though the name contains the word reader, it is more than that.

Users can easily convert PDFs to DOCX, HTML, and countless other formats or use the Fill & Sign feature to sign each document they process with this software. Most importantly, PDF Reader Pro’s versatile reduction tools let you black out sensitive information in just a few clicks.

PDF Reader Pro Interface

PDF Reader Pro Interface

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Pricing: Free trial, Premium plan ($59.99), permanent license ($79.99).

NITRO PDF Pro

As a leader in PDF software, Nitro was aimed at prioritizing simplicity when it comes to document management. It is highly recommended for delivering good results, and its interface is pretty simple to use.

Nitro PDF is a powerful document reduction tool that lets you manipulate PDF documents in any way you want. All you need to do is select the portion of the document you want to redact and apply the changes. The software is equally suitable for image and text redactions.

NITRO PDF Pro Interface

NITRO PDF Pro Interface

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Pricing: Nitro PDF Pro offers subscription and one-time payment options. The one-time payment costs depend on the number of licenses, while the subscription is only available upon request.

LibreOffice

If anything is to be fitted into this description:’ Do more faster,’ I can’t think of anything better than LibreOffice.

Used by millions of people worldwide, with a clean and simple interface and multi-functional tools, it will give potential to your productivity and creativity. Its Draw mode lets you change whichever section of the document you want, making redacting sensitive information effortless.

The highlighted areas remain transparent, allowing you to see the information underneath the reduction block. Hence, you won’t have to spend time jumping between documents while trying to figure out which information you redacted.

LibreOffice Overview

LibreOffice Overview

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Pricing: Free for Windows and macOS

Adobe Acrobat

Creative Cloud users who want to redact information in PDF documents can do so with Adobe Acrobat Pro. Seasoned professionals don’t need an introduction to this tool since Acrobat Pro has been at the industry forefront for decades.

Concealing information in a PDF document with Acrobat Pro is as easy as it gets. The Redact option is available in the software’s Tools menu, but you can also access the Redact Text & Images feature from the Edit menu or simply right-click on a selected image or text section and choose the Redact option from the menu.

Adobe Acrobat’s Redact Tool

Adobe Acrobat’s Redact Tool

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Pricing: Annual subscription is $19.99 per month, Standard plan costs %12.99 per month

PDFill

With the ability to complement all types of PDF converters and being so simple to manage, this tool makes it one of the most desirable choices when it comes to redactable software. You can delete text or images with the Reduction & Eraser tool. The tool also lets you choose if you want to redact one or more lines of text.

Moreover, you can change the color of reduction blocks or use the software to remove specific fields from a PDF document. PDFFill’s online version gives you access to tools you need to lock or decrypt PDF files, but you must download its desktop version to use redaction tools.

PDFill Overview

PDFill Overview

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Pricing: The Enterprise ($39.99), The Professional ($19.99), and The Free Basic Version (free with Lifetime Upgrade).

PDFsam Enhanced

Although surprisingly versatile as it allows you to merge, rotate, split, and extract pages from PDF files, PDFSam’s basic version doesn’t offer the tools you’ll need to redact PDFs. However, the software’s Enhanced version lets you black out portions of your documents you don’t want others to see.

Simply highlight the section, then right-click on it and choose the Redact selection option. Customizing the settings won’t take more than a few seconds, so the document will be ready in no time.

PDFsam Interface

PDFsam Interface

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Pricing: Standard ($69,00), Pro ($89,00), Pro + OCR Advanced ($129)

Sejda

Whether you aim to work offline or online, Sejda is an amazing free PDF editor that anyone should check out.

It comes with a variety of tools that are free and that can convert, merge, split, or compress documents. Still, its document redaction features won’t take your breath away, as you won’t be able to black out multiple sections at once or choose the shape of the redaction block.

Its interface is intuitive, so figuring out how to redact text or images with Sejda’s online or desktop version won’t take long.

Sejda Overview

Sejda Overview

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Pricing: Free, pricing options start at $5.50

PDF-XChange Editor

Although it is last on our list, the PDF-XChange Editor is still among the best offline redaction software. Its incredible 300 features will enable you to process a PDF in whatever way you want.

Some of the editing pages tools include resizing pages, rotating, inserting, replacing, deleting, cropping, extracting, direct content editing, moving pages, and direct content editing.

To redact one or more lines of text, you just have to navigate to the Protect menu and select the Mark for Reduction option. Click Apply All once you highlight all sections of text you want to blackout, and that’s it, you’ve successfully redacted a PDF with the PDF-XChange Editor.

PDF-XChange Editor

PDF-XChange Editor

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Pricing: Free version is available. Single User license ($56), 3 user packs ($154), 5 user packs ($254), 10 user packs ($490), 25 user pack ($907), 50 user pack ($1.648), and many others.

Conclusion

Editing has always been an important part of dealing with PDF documents. We all know how sensitive certain information can be, so certain steps must be taken to prevent any unauthorized party from accessing our documents.

Having this in mind, it is important to redact PDF free offline to keep your data safe. Hopefully, the offline PDF redaction software we mentioned in this article will ensure you can quickly and efficiently conceal sensitive information you don’t want others to see.

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