Manual markups with PDF files

Note: As part of the facade redactions release, Redact can now apply markups to rendered PDF documents.

Redact allows you to apply markups to PDF files in the Viewer. An audit of the markups applied to each document can be viewed at any time to make tracking markups easy. You can also quickly locate any markups in a document and approve or reject them as part of your quality control process by using the Redaction Navigation card. Additionally, the Original Text field in the Redaction Navigation card is now supported with PDF documents so that you can see what text each markup covers.

Note: Placing a markup on a document causes the coding layout to refresh. If you are editing a layout and place a markup, any unsaved edits to the layout fields will be lost. We recommend editing the fields on a layout and saving your changes before applying manual markups to a document.

If you would prefer to have markups applied automatically, see Automated PDF markup project.

This page contains the following information:

PDF markup considerations

Applying markups to PDFs follows a similar process to adding markups to images. Redactions are not immediately burned into the PDF file when created in the Viewer. However, unlike with images, a production preparation project is required to 'burn-in' the markups applied to a PDF file. To learn more about this project, visit Automated production preparation project.

You can see a preview of what markups will look like on a PDF file by using the Download Marked Up File button in the toolbar at the bottom of the Viewer.

Supported file types

To learn more about which file types are compatible with Redact, see Redact supported file types.

PDF basic redactions

To apply a black, text, or white redaction to a PDF, do the following:

  1. Select the desired markup set in the bottom-left drop-drown menu. If None is selected, you will not be able to apply markups.
  2. Click . The black redaction tool is the default. Click the drop-down menu to select a different tool. You can select from the following:
    • Black - creates a solid black box, like using a black marker. While you draw the box, a gray translucent fill appears.
    • Text - creates a white redaction box with black text. The text will fill the box by default. You can right-click a text box redaction and select Edit to change the text redaction as desired. Alternatively, you can right-click a text box redaction and select either most recent word or phrase you entered while editing a redaction or if you have never edited or created a text redaction before, you can select Redacted instead. The system admin determines which text options are available.
    • White - creates a solid white box with a gray border. The gray border won't be printed or produced.
  3. Draw the redaction box(es) across the section(s) of the page you want to redact. You can draw in any direction.
    The redaction is applied to the PDF file.

PDF highlights

To apply an highlight to a PDF, do the following:

  1. Select the desired markup set in the bottom-left drop-drown menu. If None is selected, you will not be able to apply markups.
  2. Click and select a color from the drop-down menu. Blue is the default color.
  3. Draw the highlight across the section(s) of text you want to highlight.
    The highlight is applied to the PDF file.

Removing highlights or markups

To delete highlights or markups, do the following:

  1. You can use any of the following methods to select highlights/markups for deletion:

    • Hold down on Ctrl on your keyboard, and left-click on each highlight/markup you wish to delete.

    • Right-click on a markup after selecting any other highlights/markups you would like to delete.

  2. Select Delete from the right-click menu.

    The Delete Markups modal displays.

  3. Verify that you wish to delete the number of markups displayed in the modal and click the Delete X Markups button.
    The selected markups are deleted.

Reviewing markups

After markups have been placed, it is a best practice to perform quality control on documents before they are produced. To learn more about how to do this using Redact, visit Reviewing markups to ensure accuracy.

Downloading and exporting marked up documents

To download a copy of the native file without any markups, click on the document actions menu and select Download document native.

To download a copy of the native file with the markups applied in the Native Viewer, click on the Download Marked Up File button.

Once a native document with markups has been prepared using the production preparation project, you can no longer download a copy using the Download Marked Up File button. Instead, include the document in a native production set to export it.