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PDF White Out – Erase Text or Images from PDF Online

by Hung Nguyen

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Use the Smallpdf Editor to white out existing content from any PDF document. The tool is free to use online without the need to register.

Whiting out a PDF is similar to redacting it, except you hide content with white blocks instead of black ones. The PDF white-out process is completely free, and you may use our PDF editor to filter out information before sharing your documents with another party. Follow the instructions below to get started, or head straight over to our editing tools (trust us, it’s easy to use).

How to White Out a PDF Online for Free

  1. Drag and drop a PDF into our Editor.

  2. Click the square icon to get started, and choose “Rectangle.”

  3. Place and adjust the box size to cover the content.

  4. Change the fill and border color to white.

  5. Hit “Download” and save your edited PDF!

2023-03-29 - PDF White Out

PDF whiteout made easy!

By placing this white box over the text, you ensure that nobody can view or edit the content that has been covered. As a result, unless you want to bury the material permanently, make sure you have a copy of the original document elsewhere before applying the redaction to the text.

Can I Edit Text on Top of the Whitened Out Content?

 

Of course! But it’s much easier than what you might remember from grade school—waiting for the liquid white-out to dry so you can try to write over it. You may use the same editing tool to add new text and instantly place it directly on top of the white-out box. Other than the redaction tool in white and the option to add text, you can also insert drawings and images into your PDF file.

Is This PDF White Out Tool Free to Use?

 

We believe that the options to convert and edit PDF files should be available to anyone to use. As such, you can access our edit tool from any device for occasional free use. Better yet, as an online platform, you can white out a PDF by clicking on the tool from our homepage from anywhere with a stable internet connection. And lastly, an offline Desktop editor is also available for our Pro users if you’re looking for an Adobe Acrobat alternative.

Can I Modify the Existing Text in a PDF?

 

Even though you can’t select text within a PDF, especially in scans, the PDF to Word tool makes it possible to convert your document into an editable file. With this, you can freely remove, edit, or enhance existing text in your digital file. If you upload scans, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is available for Pro users, which recognizes and extracts all types of content. Other tools are also available on Smallpdf, in case the output file needs to be in PPT, Excel, or JPG (albeit the last option does not leave a lot of room for editing).

Alternatively, you can sign up for Smallpdf Pro—or try it with our 7-day free trial—to unlock text editing in our Edit PDF tool. This allows you to directly edit, delete, move, and change the existing copy in your PDF.

content-be-gone

PDF content removal has never been easier

Hung Nguyen
Hung Nguyen
Senior Growth Marketing Manager @Smallpdf