Redaction removes content from the document itself, not just covers it. It happens in two steps: first you mark what should go, then you apply the redactions.
Steps
- Mark what to remove:
- In the rail, choose Comment, then Redact text in the Redact group (Mark text for redaction), and drag across the words, as you would to highlight them; or
- In the rail, choose Comment, then Redact area in the Redact group (Mark an area for redaction), and drag a box over each area, such as a picture or a signature; or
- select text with Select text, right-click, and choose Mark for redaction; or
- mark every match of a word, see "Find and redact words".
- Check the marks. Each is shown hatched, with the label Marked for redaction, and the words under it still show between the lines. Delete any you did not mean with Select annotations or Erase annotation.
- In the rail, choose Protect, then Apply redactions in the Redact group.
- In the Apply redactions window choose:
- Apply to: Page … or Every page;
- Leave behind: A filled box or Nothing;
- Images under a mark: Blank only the covered part or Remove the whole image;
- whether to Keep the document's title (off by default).
- Choose Apply redactions, then save.
Good to know
- Nothing is removed until you choose Apply redactions. Marks alone remove nothing. An applied redaction is a solid box, so a page never shows a mark and a finished redaction the same way.
- If you save, close, export, print or send a document that still has marks, Monstera asks whether to apply them first. Apply removes what every mark covers, on every page, with a filled box, and then goes on; the middle button, such as Save without applying, goes on and keeps the marks as marks; Cancel does neither.
- Applying removes the text, pictures and drawings under the marks, plus any comments and form fields there. The document's bookmarks, author, subject and other properties are removed too. A bookmark's name can itself spell what you are redacting, so they are always removed. Links within the document keep working, but the hidden names they jump to are replaced with plain ones, for the same reason.
- A title can itself contain what you are redacting, which is why keeping it is off by default.
- The only way back is Undo, while the document is still open.
- Saving after a redaction keeps no backup copy, because a backup of the previous file would still hold what you removed. The same save permanently deletes the older backups Monstera made of the file and Monstera's own undo copies of the document, and the message after saving says so. They do not go to the Recycle Bin, and Undo can no longer go back past this point. A file beside the document that is named like a backup but that Monstera did not make is never deleted. Monstera names it in Some older copies were kept, so you can delete it yourself.
- Apply redactions asks first. If you turn off Confirm before redacting in Settings, Saving page, it removes marked content on the current page straight away, with a filled box, and removes the title and bookmarks too.
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