True PDF redaction

Redact PDFs locally with flattened export

CrabPDF exports a flattened redacted PDF by burning redaction boxes into rendered pages — different from simply placing a black rectangle over text.

How to redact a PDF

Upload your PDF.

Enable Redact mode from the right sidebar.

Drag to draw redaction boxes over sensitive areas.

Review the boxes — click any box to remove it.

Click Download redacted to export the flattened PDF.

Why flattened redaction matters

A black rectangle placed over text is not always safe — underlying text may still exist in the PDF structure.

CrabPDF renders each page to canvas and burns redaction boxes into the output image.

The result is image-based: text is no longer selectable or extractable.

The tradeoff is that the exported PDF is larger and no longer text-searchable.

Private by design

All redaction processing happens locally in your browser. No PDF content is sent to a server. After CrabPDF has loaded, you can turn off Wi-Fi and continue redacting.

CrabPDF is experimental. Always verify redacted documents before sharing them.