Redact a PDF in the browser, then test the box
A rectangle is not a redaction
Drawing a black box in a viewer that still has the text underneath is not redaction. Someone can delete the box or copy the text. NexTool’s redact task burns the box into the marked page and turns that page into a picture, so the words under the box are not a selectable text layer you can remove later. That is the point, and it is also the limit. Anything you did not cover is still there. A box that is a few pixels short of an account number leaves the number. You have to look.
The sample badge PDF contains the text “Badge: 4821”. Cover that number, export, and try to select it. If you can still copy 4821, do not send the file. Unlock a password before you redact. The tool cannot burn a box into a file it cannot open. Redaction does not produce a certificate that you redacted. It produces a PDF you must test. Search the export for the secret string. Copy from the box. Zoom in. A blurry picture of the number is still the number.
What a local redact does not promise
The file stays in the browser. That protects you from an upload site keeping a copy of the unredacted PDF. It does not certify the redaction for a court. If you need a witnessed process, use the process your counsel named. NexTool will not store the before or the after. If you close the tab without downloading, both are gone from the page. Keep the unredacted original somewhere you control until you have tested the export, then decide who may see the original. Other pages of the PDF are not automatically redacted. A footer that repeats the number on every page needs a box on every page.
Test the box before anyone else sees it
Draw the box on redact so that it covers the whole secret, including the strokes that extend past the word. Export, then try to select and copy where the secret was. Try also to search the PDF for a fragment of it. The marked page is burned into a picture, so a successful test finds no selectable text under the box. A failed test means the box was short or you exported the wrong file. Do not email the original “because the box looked black.” Looking black in a viewer is not the test. Account numbers, addresses, and signatures you did not cover are still there. This page does not produce a certificate that the redaction is complete. You are the person who can see the page. The file stays in the browser. NexTool does not receive it and cannot check it for you after you leave.
Send the export, not the marked original
Redaction is permanent on the exported page and useless on the original you forgot to replace. Send the tested export, not the file you drew on if that file still has a live text layer. If you need a record of what you covered, write it down yourself. The tool does not attach a log, and the site cannot reconstruct the box after the tab closes.