Troubleshooting

In this chapter…

…we describe what you can do if you do not get the results you expect when you run Redax Enterprise Server:

  • Review the troubleshooting checklist.
  • Clean suspect PDF files. If you cannot solve the problem, refer to Support to find out how to contact customer support.

Reviewing the troubleshooting checklist

The following sections answer common questions about problems you may have with the following:

  • Installation
  • Files
  • Redaction
  • Printing

Installation

Instead of exemption codes, why do I see the word Demo over the redactions?

Demo appears in the redacted area if you are using an evaluation copy. Once you purchase the product, Demo will no longer be visible. For information about purchasing this product or downloading a demo version, go to the Appligent website.

Files

Why am I having problems with my PDF files?

Check that they are well-formed and not corrupt, “clean” them if necessary.

I edited my redaction list file. Why do I now get an error when I try to use it?

The redaction list file is a plain text file. To be safe, always edit it with a text editor (for example, Notepad or BBEdit). If you edit it with a tool that supports different file formats (for example, Microsoft Word), make sure to save the file as Text Only (.txt).

Why do I get an error message saying “This operation is not permitted”?

Your document is secured with an Owner password (also called a Permissions password). You must supply the password using the -d option. See General Options.

Other file problems:

  • When using the log file option, -l, be sure to give a log file name. If a log file name is not included, Redax Enterprise Server will produce unexpected results or not process at all, and an error message may be added to the default log file (redaxserver.log).
  • Make sure all file and path names are correct. If you are working in one directory and Redax Enterprise Server is in another directory, you must account for that in your command line. It is always best to use absolute path names.
  • No spaces in path names! Even if you have a forgiving operating system that lets you use spaces in path names most of the time, this may not work consistently with Redax Enterprise Server. If you are using Windows, placing double quotes around the full path name corrects the problem.
  • Corrupt PDF file in watch directory! If an instance of Redax Enterprise Server crashes while processing a corrupt or malformed PDF file in a watch directory, remove the offending file from the “in” subdirectory before restarting Redax Enterprise Server for that watch directory.

Redaction

Why does some text not redact?

Check to see if you assigned an exemption code to the Redax box. If not, either:

  • Assign a code to the box, or
  • Specify Allow redaction without exemption in your preferences file. Refer to Establishing Preferences.

Why did I get the following message: “The PDF file name.pdf contains form fields”?

Redax Enterprise Server cannot redact documents that contain active form fields. Before redacting the document, flatten the form fields using Acrobat or a tool such as Appligent’s FDFMerge, FDFMerge Lite or Redax Plug-in 5.0 which has a menu option “Remove All Form Fields”.

I used a redaction list file. Why did Redax find some occurrences of the words, but not others?

Possible problems are:

  • List File Construction: The words and phrases in your list file must be specified correctly.
  • Inline Character Images: If your document is scanned, the OCR software might have replaced all or part of a word in your list with character images. Since the Find Using List feature only finds text, it would miss any words that include character images. These words must be marked up with the Draw Box tool in the Redax plug-in product.

Why is there still sensitive information in the comments pane of my redacted document?

Before releasing a document, be sure to remove all annotations using the -remall command.

Why can’t I redact my scanned TIFF document?

Redax only supports PDF documents. To redact any other type of document, convert it to a PDF file first.

Why did my bookmarks disappear from my redacted document?

Your processing option preferences determine whether bookmarks in the original document are preserved or removed following redaction. You set processing option preferences in RedaxESconfig, which is supplied with Redax Enterprise Server. For information about setting preferences, see Appendix B: RedaxESconfig.

Printing

Why won’t my Redax boxes print?

You must specify an option to print the document with markups (also called comments). Under the Print dialog, look for “Comments and Forms” and select “Document and Markups”.

What can I do to use less ink/toner when I print a redacted document?

You can conserve ink by filling redacted areas with blank (white) space or increasing the transparency level of the fill color. You set preferences for the appearance of redacted areas in RedaxESconfig, which is supplied with Redax Enterprise Server. For information about setting preferences, see Appendix B: RedaxESconfig.

 

Cleaning Up PDF Documents

Not all PDF files are created equal. The way in which a PDF document is generated makes a difference, and PDFs generated by third party tools in particular can vary in quality. PDF documents can also become corrupted.

To check how the file was created:

  • In Acrobat X, XI and DC select File > Properties… and click Description. Under Advanced, look at PDF Producer.

If the PDF Producer field is blank, consider the file suspect.

Making a Clean PDF

If you are having problems with a specific PDF, try to create “clean” version of your document. There are two ways of doing this using Adobe Acrobat. If you use other PDF manipulation software, check the documentation for functions that may be equivalent to those found in Adobe Acrobat.

Method 1: “Optimize” your PDF

  • In Acrobat X, XI and DC > File Menu > Save As > Optimized PDF

If saving as optimized does not work, distill the document by following the steps below.

Method 2: Distilling PDF Documents

Distilling a document will remove all comments and form-fields from the PDF. If the PDF contains these items and you wish to preserve them, you must save them before Distilling.

To save existing comments

  • In Acrobat X, XI and DC select Comments > Comments List > click the Options icon > Export All to Data File… In the Export Comments dialog box, select a name and location for the Forms Data File (.fdf), and click Save.

See the additional step below for saving form fields (if any):

Delete all comments:

  • In Acrobat X, XI and DC select all the comments in the Comments List pane and press the Delete key.

To save form fields (if any):

  • Save a copy of the original file. You will copy and paste the form fields from the original file into the new file after the distilling procedure.

Distilling the document

To distill a PDF document do the following:

  • In Acrobat X and XI select File > Save As > More Options > PostScript. Choose a name and location for the file and click Save.
  • In Acrobat DC select File > Export to > PostScript. Choose a name and location for the file and click Save
  • Open Acrobat Distiller > select File > Open… In the Open PostScript File dialog, locate the PostScript file created in the previous step and click Open.

The distiller will create a new PDF file with the same name and location as the PostScript file.

Restoring comments

To restore the comments:

  • In Acrobat X and XI, select Comments > Comments List > click the Options icon > Import Data File… In the Import Comments dialog box, locate the Forms Data File (.fdf) previously saved and click Select. In the next pop-up box, click Yes. The comments are restored.
  • In Acrobat DC, select Tools > Comments > Comments List > click the Options icon > Import Data File…In the Import Comments dialog box, locate the Forms Data File (.fdf) previously saved and click Select. In the next pop-up box, click yes. The comments are restored

Restoring form fields

To restore form fields:

  • Open the original PDF file that includes form fields.
  • In Acrobat X and XI select Tools > Forms > Edit Form)
  • In Acrobat DC > select Tools > Prepare Form > Form fields will automatically appear
  • The form fields will appear, do a Control-A to select all the form fields.
  • Open the new distilled PDF file which has no form fields.
  • Do a Control-V to paste all the form fields onto the page.

You may need to reposition the fields by selecting them again with the Select Object Tool and moving them to the correct position. For multi-page forms you must do this for each page separately.