Redaction

Redaction permanently removes sensitive content from a PDF — text, images and any embedded text objects — replacing the region with a solid colour and optional overlay label.

Two-Step Workflow

Spark separates redaction into two stages:

1. Mark for Redaction (reversible)

Places a redaction marker — a labelled overlay showing what will be removed. At this point, nothing has been changed in the PDF. You can move, resize, delete, and group markers freely.

To mark:

1. Tools → Redaction (or the Redact toolbar button).
2. Click-and-drag to cover the area.
3. Release. A semi-transparent dark rectangle with a red dashed border appears.

2. Apply Redactions (permanent)

Burns the markers in. After this step, the original content is gone — not hidden, not toggleable. The PDF's content stream is rewritten.

To apply:

1. Tools → Redaction → Apply Redactions (or right-click a marker → Apply).
2. A confirmation dialog appears with a count of markers.
3. Confirm. The markers become solid black (or your chosen fill) and the underlying text/image is deleted from the file.
4. Save to a new file — see the warning below.

Redaction Marker Properties

Before applying, right-click a marker for:

Reason and exemption code don't affect visuals but are preserved for audit trails.

Finding Text to Redact

Use Find & Redact (where available) to search the document for a pattern and automatically place redaction markers over each match.

1. Tools → Redaction → Find & Redact.
2. Type a pattern (plain text or regex).
3. Preview matches.
4. Click Mark All. Review the markers, then Apply when ready.

What Gets Removed

When you Apply:

• Text — characters under the marker are deleted from the content stream.
• Images — image regions under the marker are cropped / replaced.
• Annotations — any annotation under the marker is removed.
• Links — hyperlinks in the redacted region are stripped.
• Hidden metadata — document metadata (author, keywords) is NOT auto-cleaned. Use File → Document Properties → Clean Metadata separately.

Audit Trail

Spark records applied redactions with:

• Reason and exemption code.
• Username who applied.
• Timestamp.
• Count and location.

This metadata is in the PDF's XMP and custom redaction log — preserved across open/save.

Best Practice

1. Copy first — File → Save As before any redaction work.
2. Mark, don't apply until you've reviewed every marker.
3. Clean metadata separately after applying.
4. Verify by opening the redacted file and copying text — pasted text should not contain redacted content.