Redaction
Redacting documents blocks out words or portions of a document for authorised use or viewing.
Redaction protects sensitive information and helps enterprises and organizations to comply with regulations on confidentiality or privacy.
To access this command...
Choose Tools - Redact
How redaction works in Office?
The current document is exported to a drawing document edited in Office Draw. The redacted text or contents is removed from the drawing document and replaced by the redaction block of pixels, preventing any attempt to restore or copy the original contents. The redacted drawing document is often exported to PDF for publication or sharing.
When redacting, the redaction shapes are transparent and in grey so the user can see what is being redacted.
The source document (text, spreadsheet or presentation) is not affected by redaction and can continue to be edited.
Save and share the in-redaction copies of the document with peers either in the modifiable (drawing) or the verbatim (PDF) format at your option.
The redaction toolbar
The redaction toolbar consist of four tools
The Rectangle Redaction tool is used to mark the content for redaction by drawing transparent rectangles covering the content. Use the handles to resize the redaction rectangle.
The Freeform Redaction tool allows the user to mark the content for redaction by drawing free-form lines or polygons covering the content.
The Redacted Export button box has two options:
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Redacted Export (Black): finalise your document by converting the semitransparent redaction shapes to opaque black and export as pixels in the PDF file.
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Redacted Export (White): finalise your document by converting the semitransparent redaction shapes to opaque white shapes, and export as pixels in the PDF file.
Direct Export to PDF: Makes an in-redaction copy of the document in PDF to share as a verbatim copy for review