Redact PDF using PHP
Automatically find and redact sensitive data in PDFs using AI
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Redact PDF features
Automatically detect and black out information in PDF document. Whether you need to secure business documents or protect personal information, our tool provides reliable, efficient, and user-friendly redaction solutions. Start safeguarding your PDFs today with our trusted data masking PHP SDK.
File conversion library for PHP
ConvertAPI provides a PHP library that allows you to perform a Redact PDF conversion with just a few lines of code. Redact PDF documents using PHP programming language with no effort at all!
Execute the following command in your project root:
composer require convertapi/convertapi-php
Or install it manually using ConvertApi autoloader:
require_once('/path/to/convertapi-php/lib/ConvertApi/autoload.php');
How To Redact PDF using PHP?
You can Redact PDF in a few simple steps:
- Obtain your secret key by signing up for a free account.
- Install the ConvertAPI library for PHP
- Set up the Redact PDF conversion using our live demo tool
- Copy-paste the auto-generated code snippet into your project!
Redact PDF - complete code snippet for PHP
Once you have your authentication in place, simply copy-paste this pdf to redact conversion code snippet into your PHP project:
Try the conversion online - no coding required!
You can try out advanced conversion parameters and test the conversion result online using our interactive demo tool. This tool will produce the same conversion output as if you were using the library from your solution, and it will auto-generate the code snippet for you!
Try for FREE!Conversion parameters
PageRange
String
Set page range. Example 1-10 or 1,2,5.
Preset
Collection
The Preset parameter determines the type of sensitive data the AI will detect and redact from the document. It complements the Custom Redaction Options, enabling you to refine or expand the redaction criteria. Select manual to use your customized redaction options exclusively.
Choose a preset to define the type of sensitive data the AI will detect and redact from the document:
Auto – Automatically detects and redacts sensitive data across all categories, including PII, financial, healthcare, legal, and confidential information. Best for general redaction when the document type is unknown or contains mixed data.
GDPR - Redacts personal data as required by GDPR, including names, emails, IP addresses, phone numbers, and national IDs.
HIPAA - Ensures compliance with HIPAA by redacting protected health information (PHI) such as patient names, medical record numbers, diagnoses, and prescription details.
FERPA - Redacts personally identifiable student information to comply with FERPA, including student names, school records, and educational identifiers.
FOIA - Prevents the exposure of sensitive personal or national security data in documents released under FOIA. This includes classified content, addresses, and government IDs.
GLBA - Complies with GLBA by redacting financial data such as bank account numbers, credit card details, loan records, and investment information.
CCPA -Meets CCPA requirements by removing consumer personal data such as purchase history, geolocation, contact details, and online identifiers upon request.
Manual - Disables automatic AI detection preset. Only the manually set parameters will be used to determine what should be redacted. Ideal for users who want full control over redaction without AI-based automation.
Values: auto gdpr hipaa ferpa foia glba ccpa manual
MinimumConfidence
Double
Sets the minimum confidence threshold for AI-based detection of sensitive data. Higher values reduce false positives but may miss subtle matches.
RedactionColor
String
Specifies the color used to mask redacted text, accepting formats such as Hexadecimal (e.g., #FFFFFF for white or #FF5733 for orange), RGB with an optional alpha channel (e.g., 255,255,255 for white or 255,255,255), and named colors (e.g., white, red, blue).
RedactionThickness
Double
The RedactionThickness property controls the height of the redaction stroke line relative to the original line height.
- A value of 1 means the stroke height matches the original line height.
- Values less than 1 (e.g., 0.5) reduce the stroke height.
- Values greater than 1 (e.g., 1.5 or 2) increase the stroke height.
PII
Bool
Personally Identifiable Information (PII) - Detects and redacts common personal identifiers, including names, email addresses, phone numbers, birthdates, and home addresses.
PHI
Bool
Patient Health Information (PHI) - Detects health-related information such as patient names, medical records, insurance details, and prescription data.
Financial
Bool
Financial Data - Focuses on financial records, including credit card numbers, bank account numbers, financial transaction details, etc.
Legal
Bool
Legal and Contractual Data - Detects legal and contractual terms, including case numbers, legal clauses, signatures, and confidential agreements.
Confidential
Bool
Legal and Contractual Data - Detects proprietary business information, contracts and agreements, internal communications, trade secrets, intellectual property details, and sensitive corporate data.
RedactionData
String
A JSON array defining specific values for redaction. Supports three methods:
- Text – Exact text to be redacted.
- Regex – Escaped regular expression patterns for flexible text matching.
- Detect – AI-based detection using a description of what to find.
If a preset is selected (e.g., gdpr, hipaa), RedactionData will work in addition to the preset’s AI-based detection.
If the manual preset is selected, automatic preset is disabled, and only the values specified in the Custom Redaction Options will be redacted.
Example JSON
[
{
"Text": "john@domain.com"
},
{
"Detect": "Bank account number"
},
{
"Regex": "\\b100\\s*(€|\\$)\\b"
}
]