Remove document elements

This feature lets you remove hidden or not-so-evident content that you do not want kept in the document when you distribute it, such as bookmarks, comments, attachments, or metadata. You should inspect and de-feature a copy of the original document or use Save As to make a copy if you need to retain the original.

  1. Remove Elements icon To inspect your PDF document, select Security > Security > Remove Elements.

    The Remove Document Elements dialog box appears.

  2. The categories of sensitive/hidden contents found in the current PDF document appear as active, selected check boxes. Clear those you want to retain.

    For details on element categories see Remove Document Elements.

  3. To select all active elements or to remove all selections, select the Select All check box.
  4. To delete the content of the selected items, click Remove.
  5. Select File > Save to save the modified PDF document. Select Save As and enter a new file name if you want to keep the original PDF document.

    Note
    • All selected items are permanently removed from the PDF document after you save the file. If you close the PDF document file without saving it, all operations are cancelled and you must repeat this process.

    • Removing Document Elements is usually done together with redacting, which is offered in Power PDF Advanced. After redaction is performed, an invitation to inspect the document is given. Redacting a document does not redact the content inside an already embedded index. To maintain document security, you should select to remove embedded non-display data, in order to delete the index. You can re-index the document after redacting it; the removed texts will not enter the new index.

      Removing Document Elements is similar to document flattening, which removes selected annotation types, or transforms them into document objects.