Marking Text for Redaction
In this chapter…
…you will learn how to mark up a document for redaction using Redax Enterprise Server. The following chapters describe the markup process:
- Marking up a document shows you many of the tools available to mark a document for redaction.
- Using lists, patterns, and regular expressions explains three additional tools you can use to mark up a document.
- Command-line options describes the command syntax and the options you can use on the command line to mark information for redaction.
Marking up a document
You can mark a document for redaction in the following ways:
- Mark all text between square brackets [ ] — Mark the text between every set of square brackets in the documents.
- Mark one or more pages — Mark an entire page or a list of pages.
- Convert Acrobat-selected text to Redax boxes — Convert text that you select with the Acrobat Highlight, Underline, and Cross Out/Strikethrough tools to Redax boxes. Each Acrobat selection type can have its own exemption code.
- Mark by category — Place Redax markup in one or more categories, as defined in a preferences file.
- Use a redaction list file — Mark all occurrences of text matching the words and phrases in the list.
- Use a pre-defined pattern file — Mark all occurrences of text matching one of a pre-defined set of patterns.
- Use any regular expression — Mark occurrences of text matching your preferred regular expression.
Note: Once you have marked a document for redaction, you can use it as a template to mark up other documents in which the information to be marked up is in the same position on the page. For more information, see Import & Export Markup with RESxml.
Redaction markup
When text is marked for redaction, a Redax box is placed around it, as in the following example:
When a page is marked for redaction, a Full-page tag is placed on the page, as in the following example:
Redax boxes and Full-page tags are visible in Adobe Acrobat and can be printed from Acrobat to a PostScript or non-PostScript printer. The markup can be adjusted, if necessary, using the Redax plug-in.
Marking all text between square brackets
To mark all text that is between square brackets, enter the following command:
$redaxserver -o <output> -fbracket [other options] <input.pdf>
Redax Enterprise Server searches through the document. Each time it finds text that’s contained between square brackets [ ], it draws a Redax box around the text.
Whether or not the brackets are also included in the Redax box depends on your preferences file. (See Remove Brackets when Find Bracketed Text in Appendix B: RedaxESconfig is selected.) If you do not designate a preferences file, the brackets will not be included in the Redax box and will, therefore, not be removed during redaction.
Note: In your preferences file, you should either specify an exemption code or, if you do not wish to use exemption codes, check Allow Redaction without Exemption.
Example: Mark bracketed text in the sample_base.pdf file, located in the samples directory, and save the output to mark_bracketed.pdf. Use a preferences file that specifies to mark the brackets for removal, as well as the text (in other words, to include the brackets in the Redax box).
In Windows:
>redaxserver -o samples\mark_bracketed.pdf -fbracket -pref samples\prefs\remove_brackets.xml samples\sample_base.pdf
In UNIX:
$redaxserver -o ./samples/mark_bracketed.pdf -fbracket -pref ./samples/prefs/remove_brackets.xml ./samples/sample_base.pdf
Marking one or more pages
To mark one or more pages for redaction, enter the following command:
$redaxserver -o <output> -markpages <pages> [other options] <input.pdf>
For pages, substitute a single page or a list of pages. In a list of pages, use a comma to separate individual pages or a dash to indicate a range of pages. If you include spaces, enclose the list in quotes.
When the command is executed, Redax Enterprise Server places a Full-Page tag on each listed page in the input.pdf file and saves the results to the specified output file or directory.
Example: Mark pages 1, 3, and 5-7 in the sample_base.pdf file, located in the samples directory, and save the output to mark_pages.pdf. Use a preferences file that specifies an exemption code of Confidential. You can use the sample file, confidential.xml, located in the samples directory or you can create your own preference file using RedaxESconfig, which is supplied with Redax Enterprise Server. When you open mark_pages.pdf, you can display the exemption code by double-clicking in the Full-Page tag. In Acrobat, you can also display it as a tooltip when you move the pointer over the Full-Page tag.
In Windows:
>redaxserver -o samples\mark_pages.pdf -markpages 1,3,5-7 -pref samples\prefs\confidential.xml samples\sample_base.pdf
In UNIX:
$redaxserver -o ./samples/mark_pages.pdf -markpages 1,3,5-7 -pref ./samples/prefs/confidential.xml ./samples/sample_base.pdf
Converting Acrobat-selected text to Redax boxes
Redax Enterprise Server can convert Acrobat-highlighted, -underlined, and -crossed-out text to Redax boxes. The text should be selected in Acrobat beforehand, as described in Using Acrobat to select text for redaction. (You can also redact the Acrobat-selected text at the same time. See Redacting Documents for information).
You have several conversion options.
To convert all Acrobat-highlighted, -underlined, and -crossed-out text to Redax boxes, with no exemption codes, enter the following command:
$redaxserver -o <output> -cm [other options] <input.pdf>
Redax Enterprise Server searches through the document and draws a Redax box around all Acrobat-highlighted, -underlined, and -crossed-out text. Unless an exemption code is specified in the preferences file, exemption codes are not assigned to the Redax boxes, and the document is automatically marked to allow redaction without exemption. (Allow Redaction without Exemption does not have to be specified in the preferences file).
Example: Convert all Acrobat-highlighted, -underlined, and -crossed-out text in the sample_marked.pdf file, located in the samples directory, and save the output to mark_all_selected.pdf. Use a preferences file that specifies a blue Redax box and assigns John Jones as the author.
In Windows:
>redaxserver -o samples\mark_all_selected.pdf -cm -pref samples\prefs\blueJones.xml samples\sample_marked.pdf
In UNIX:
$redaxserver -o ./samples/mark_all_selected.pdf -cm -pref ./samples/prefs/blueJones.xml /samples/sample_marked.pdf
To convert one or more types of Acrobat-selected text to Redax markup without exemption codes, enter the following command:
$redaxserver -o <output> <conversion option(s)-no exemption code> [other options] <input.pdf>
Redax Enterprise Server searches through the document. Each time it finds the type of Acrobat-selected text specified by the conversion options, it draws a Redax box around the text. Unless an exemption code is specified in the preferences file, exemption codes are not assigned to the Redax boxes, and the document is automatically marked to allow redaction without exemption. (Allow Redaction without Exemption does not have to be specified in the preferences file.)
Example: Convert Acrobat-underlined and crossed-out text in the sample_marked.pdf file, located in the samples directory, and save the output to mark_undercross.pdf. Remove the underlines and crossouts, and use a preferences file (YellowDoe.xml) that specifies a yellow Redax box and assigns Jane Doe as the author.
In Windows:
>redaxserver -o samples\mark_undercross.pdf -cu -cs -crem -pref samples\prefs\yellowDoe.xml samples\sample_marked.pdf
In UNIX:
$redaxserver -o ./samples/mark_undercross.pdf -cu -cs -crem -pref ./samples/prefs/yellowDoe.xml ./samples/sample_marked.pdf
To convert one or more types of Acrobat-selected text to Redax markup without exemption codes, enter the following command:
$redaxserver -o <output> <conversion option(s)-exemption code> [other options] <input.pdf>
Redax Enterprise Server searches through the document. Each time it finds the type of Acrobat-selected text specified by the conversion options, it draws a Redax box around the text and overlays the box with the specified exemption code.
Note: If exemption codes are specified in the preferences file, they are ignored.
Example: Convert Acrobat-highlighted text in the sample_marked.pdf file, located in the samples directory, and save the output to mark_highlighted.pdf. Overlay the box with the Freedom of Information Act exemption code (b) (4).
In Windows:
>redaxserver -o samples\mark_highlight.pdf -ch -chc (b)(4) -crem -pref samples\prefs\yellowDoe.xml samples\sample_marked.pdf
In UNIX:
$redaxserver -o ./samples/mark_highlight.pdf -ch -chc (b)(4) -crem -pref ./samples/prefs/yellowDoe.xml ./samples/sample_marked.pdf
Creating category-based markup
If you redact different information in a document depending on how it is to be used, you can create a markup category for each intended use. Then, when you perform the redaction, you can specify which category or categories to redact.
Because the category is specified in the preferences file, you must run Redax Enterprise Server once for each category you want to apply. You can use a different list file or convert a different type of Acrobat markup for each category. If you use list files, the listed words and phrases in each must be mutually exclusive to ensure the integrity of the categories.
To convert all Acrobat-underlined text to Redax boxes with no exemption codes and assign a category defined in a preferences file, enter the following command:
$redaxserver -o <output> -cu -pref <preferences.xml> [other options] <input.pdf>
Example: Convert Acrobat-underlined text in the sample_marked.pdf file, located in the samples directory, and save the output to mark_categories1.pdf. Use the preferences file public.xml, which defines a category of Public. (The mark_categories.pdf example shows the results of this process).
In Windows:
>redaxserver -o samples\mark_categories1.pdf -cu -pref samples\prefs\public.xml samples\sample_marked.pdf
In UNIX:
$redaxserver -o ./samples/mark_categories1.pdf -cu -pref ./samples/prefs/public.xml ./samples/sample_marked.pdf
To convert all Acrobat-highlighted and crossed-out text to Redax boxes with no exemption codes and assign a category defined in a preferences file, enter the following command:
$redaxserver -o <output> -ch -cs -pref <preferences.xml> [other options] <input.pdf>
Example: Convert Acrobat-highlighted and crossed-out text in the mark_categories1.pdf file, created in the previous example, and save the output to mark_categories2.pdf. Use the preferences file government.xml, which defines a category of Government.
In Windows:
>redaxserver -o samples\mark_categories2.pdf -ch -cs -pref samples\prefs\government.xml samples\mark_categories1.pdf
In UNIX:
$redaxserver -o ./samples/mark_categories2.pdf -ch -cs -pref ./samples/prefs/government.xml ./samples/mark_categories1.pdf
Further markup information
See the following chapters for details on these markup topics: