![]() Microsoft Word documents may also contain tracked changes and thereby retain deleted text, earlier versions of the text, and comments from reviewers. While such text will generally not be visible when a document is viewed or printed, the text still exists in the Word document and can be retrieved (such as by changing the text style or through other means). For example, text can be hidden in a Word document by setting its colour to white, or by setting its background colour to black. Hidden data can refer to any extra information in a document or image which is not immediately visible to the user. The term “hidden data” includes the metadata embedded in a file, but also has a broader meaning. Although this information can be retrieved using appropriate software, it is mostly invisible to anyone who isn’t looking for it – i.e., anyone who merely opens, views, edits, or prints the file. For a digital photograph, the metadata might include the type of camera or other device used to create the image, the location where it was taken, and the date and time it was taken, as well as other information.Įlectronic records, whether they are Word documents, PDF files, image files, or otherwise, almost always contain metadata which is embedded inside the record itself. ![]() For a Microsoft Word document, this could include information such as the author of the document, the date and time the document was created, the time spent editing the document, its length, its description, comments about the document, etc. Metadata refers to information “about” a record. This is related to How to remove meta and sensitive data from PDF file?, but we are all on Windows, not Unix.What are Metadata and Hidden Data? Metadata Inspired by Blacking out a part of a PDF, or redaction of text on AskDifferent. Foxit asks where you want to save the PDF. In the background, PDFCreator saves the file as a TIFF and then prints the TIFF to Foxit's PDF printer.Open the PDF in Foxit Reader and cover up any visible sensitive data with black rectangles.For the output, set PDFCreator to print back to FoxIt, rather than opening the document. I don't know if I should include this, since the general question will probably be more useful, but here's my specific setup: The software:Ĭhange the settings in PDFCreator so that it converts the document to a TIFF, instead of a PDF. Would this work? Does the TIFF file preserve any information about objects or layers? Is any potentially sensitive metadata likely to make it through, or will all metadata be changed, as I hope?. ![]() Then convert the TIFF file back to a PDF. In some PDF program, cover up the sensitive stuff with boxes, then convert it to a TIFF file. I'm having trouble figuring out why this wouldn't work. If you are of this opinion, please explain why. Many forum members posting about this topic have stated quite firmly that only Adobe Acrobat or other paid software can do this securely. However, I have also found that I don't know nearly as much as I think I do. I have convinced myself that this will effectively destroy potentially sensitive client metadata from the original document, as well as making it impossible to remove any black bars covering up sensitive information. We get a lot of scanned documents and our client requires that sensitive information be redacted from PDFs before they are uploaded to their system. My boss asked me to come up with a way ordinary users can redact information from PDF files using free software.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |