How to Change Redaction Color in Adobe Acrobat

What is Redaction?

Redaction involves the permanent removal of visible text and graphics from a PDF document. This is fundamentally different from simply highlighting or covering up text with a shape or annotation. Redaction tools physically erase the selected content, rendering it unrecoverable. This ensures that sensitive data is completely removed, not just concealed.

Why Change Redaction Color?

Customizing the redaction color can serve several important purposes. Aesthetics and branding are considerations for organizations that want a consistent look and feel across all their documents. Specific compliance requirements might dictate the use of particular colors for redaction. Furthermore, using different colors can help visually distinguish between different types of redacted information.

Default Redaction Appearance in Adobe Acrobat

By default, Adobe Acrobat typically applies black boxes to redacted areas, often with a red outline around the marked sections before the redaction is applied. These black boxes might also include overlay text, such as redaction codes. The specific appearance can be configured, but the default settings are generally aimed at clearly indicating the presence of redacted content.

Limitations of Adobe Acrobat

While Adobe Acrobat is a powerful tool, users sometimes encounter issues. Some users report experiencing the same redaction problems even after uninstalling and reinstalling Acrobat. Another issue arises with unexpected transparency in redactions, leading to underlying content still being visible. Furthermore, the redaction color might change unexpectedly after the redaction is applied, leading to inconsistencies. These problems highlight the importance of having alternative options like pdfredactoronline.com, which offers a more straightforward and reliable redaction experience.

Method 1: Changing Properties Before Applying Redaction

Before applying redactions, you can modify the properties to control the redaction color. Navigate to "Tools > Redact" within Adobe Acrobat. Then, select "Set Properties" in the Redact toolset located in the left pane. Within the Appearance Tab, you'll find options to customize the outline color, fill color, redacted area fill color, and even add custom text and redaction codes. Adjust the color and opacity settings as desired before marking areas for redaction to ensure consistent application.

Method 2: Changing Properties of Existing Redaction Marks Before Applying

You can modify the appearance of redaction marks *before* applying them permanently. Go to `Tools > Comment` or select the "Comments" tab. Select all the redaction marks by clicking the top one and then Shift-clicking the bottom one on the list to select them all at once. Right-click on the selected comments and choose "Properties". From there, you can change the color of all selected redactions simultaneously. Note: This changes the appearance before the redaction is applied, after you apply it, you won't be able to change it in Acrobat this way.

Method 3: Using JavaScript

For advanced customization, you can use JavaScript to modify the redaction color. Here's an example code snippet:

        
this.syncAnnotScan();
var annots = this.getAnnots();
if (annots!=null) {
    for (var i in annots) {
        var annot = annots[i];
        if (annot.type=="Redact") annot.fillColor = color.red;
    }
}
        
        

To use this code, navigate to "All Tools" and select "Use JavaScript". Then, choose "Document JavaScripts" and paste the code, modifying the `color.red` value to your desired color. For example, to use a gray redaction, change `color.red` to `color.gray`. This method offers precise control over the redaction appearance.

Here's a tutorial on specifying colors in Acrobat JavaScript: https://acrobatusers.com/tutorials/using-colors-acrobat-javascript/

Specifying Custom Colors (RGB)

You can specify custom colors using RGB values within the JavaScript code. Instead of using predefined color names like `color.red` or `color.gray`, you can define the red, green, and blue components of the color. This allows for a wider range of color choices to match specific branding or compliance needs. Refer to the Acrobatusers tutorial for more details on using RGB values in Acrobat JavaScript.

Color Not Changing

If you're having trouble changing the redaction color, ensure you're adjusting the fill color and not just the outline color. Also, check for any transparency settings that might be overriding the color you've selected. Some older versions of Adobe Acrobat might have specific options to save changes to the black redaction rectangle, so look for those settings if the color isn't updating as expected.

Color Changes After Applying Redaction

To prevent unexpected color changes after applying redaction, avoid using spot colors. Spot colors can sometimes lead to inconsistencies in the final output. Also, be aware of potential issues regarding color selection, especially transparent colors, in Acrobat on Macs. For consistent results, ensure that the PDF export settings are set to "Embed All Fonts" to maintain color integrity throughout the document.