{"id":1506,"date":"2023-04-28T16:15:26","date_gmt":"2023-04-28T22:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/?p=1506"},"modified":"2025-04-20T06:23:50","modified_gmt":"2025-04-20T12:23:50","slug":"erase-in-pdf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/erase-in-pdf\/","title":{"rendered":"Erase in PDF"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>PDF has become the standard file format for storing and passing around documents that need to 1) look the same on any computer, and 2) not change. That second feature is why we get bank statements, receipts, official letters, etc. as PDFs and not Word documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the fact that PDFs are not <em>supposed<\/em> to change doesn&#8217;t mean that they <em>can&#8217;t<\/em> change. In fact, with the right software, it is very easy to erase in a PDF. You can erase text and you can erase images. Here, we show you how. There are multiple methods for erasing in a PDF, depending on what kind of PDF you have. Read on to learn how.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Key Takeaways:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Get the right PDF editor<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Check the PDF security<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Erase text or image elements from a PDF<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Alternate methods for erasing in a PDF<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">To Erase in PDF, Start with the Right PDF Editor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are two kinds of PDF programs: PDF <em>viewers<\/em> and PDF <em>editors<\/em>. The difference is implied by the names. A PDF viewer is only for looking at PDFs, though they usually have extra features for commenting, etc. But a PDF viewer is not designed to make deep changes to PDF files. That functionality is reserved for PDF editors. A <a href=\"\/info-pdf-editor-software.html\">PDF editor<\/a> supports the full range of PDF features, and lets you make all kinds of changes to PDF files.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fce060\"><strong><em>READ ALSO:<\/em><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/best-document-management-software\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">10 Best Document Management Software for Small Businesses in 2024<\/a><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/best-document-scanning-software\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">10 Best Document Scanning Software for Windows 10 Users in 2024<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have the free version of Adobe Acrobat, you just have a PDF viewer. If you have the full, paid version of Adobe Acrobat, you have a PDF editor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are a number of PDF editors on the market. For the instructions below, we&#8217;re using <a href=\"\/filecenter-features.html\">FileCenter<\/a> as the PDF editor. Why? Because it&#8217;s easy. FileCenter makes organizing your files and working with PDFs a piece of cake. It includes a PDF editor that is on par with Adobe Acrobat Professional, but without the steep monthly price. FileCenter has a <a href=\"\/filecenter-trial.php\">fully-functional trial version<\/a> if you&#8217;d like to give it a go. No obligation. You can do everything below with the trial version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you already have Adobe Acrobat or another PDF editor, the instructions will be very similar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 1: Check PDF Security<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>PDF supports some document security measures that &#8220;lock&#8221; the PDF. In other words, the author of the PDF can prevent you from making any changes to it. This is common with things like bank statements (for obvious reasons). Here&#8217;s how to see if your PDF is locked:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Go to the <em>PDF Editor<\/em> tab in FileCenter<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Open your PDF<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Go to the <em>File<\/em> menu in the PDF editor &gt; <em>Document Properties<\/em> &gt; <em>Security<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Look at the <em>Document Permissions Details<\/em> section on the right<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Look at <em>Changing the Document<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If it says <em>Allowed<\/em>, you&#8217;re fine; skip ahead<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If it says <em>Not Allowed<\/em>, you&#8217;re done. You have a locked PDF. You can&#8217;t erase anything in it.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/01.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"885\" height=\"649\" src=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/01.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1508\" style=\"width:664px;height:487px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/01.png 885w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/01-300x220.png 300w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/01-768x563.png 768w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/01-100x73.png 100w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/01-150x110.png 150w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/01-200x147.png 200w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/01-450x330.png 450w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/01-600x440.png 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 885px) 100vw, 885px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Erase Text or Image Elements in a PDF<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Here we describe the preferred method for erasing text and images in a PDF, but be warned: <strong>it won&#8217;t work for every PDF file<\/strong>. Why not?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This method only works for PDFs that have <em>individual text and image elements<\/em>. Right now you&#8217;re thinking, &#8220;Of course my PDF has text and images, I can see them.&#8221; But that doesn&#8217;t mean it has <em>individual<\/em> elements. The whole page might just be one big picture. For example, a scanned document doesn&#8217;t have any individual words or images, just a snapshot of the whole page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you run into any trouble with these steps, it probably means you&#8217;re dealing with a scanned document. So give up and skip ahead to <em>Erase in a PDF: Alternate Methods<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>With your PDF open in FileCenter&#8217;s <em>PDF Editor<\/em>, go to the page you want to edit<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Click the <em>Edit Content<\/em> button or go to the <em>Tools<\/em> menu &gt; <em>Content Editing Tools<\/em> &gt; <em>Edit Content<\/em> &gt; <em>All Content<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/01-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"250\" src=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/01-1-1024x250.png\" alt=\"Content editing tools\" class=\"wp-image-1509\" style=\"width:768px;height:188px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/01-1-1024x250.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/01-1-300x73.png 300w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/01-1-768x187.png 768w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/01-1-100x24.png 100w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/01-1-150x37.png 150w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/01-1-200x49.png 200w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/01-1-450x110.png 450w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/01-1-600x146.png 600w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/01-1-900x219.png 900w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/01-1.png 1140w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Now you should see gray boxes around the text and images in your PDF. This shows items that you can edit. If you click on a piece of text or an image, you will see an edit box show up. <strong>If you don&#8217;t see this<\/strong>, skip ahead to the <em>Alternate Methods<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/06.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"521\" src=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/06-1024x521.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1512\" style=\"width:768px;height:391px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/06-1024x521.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/06-300x153.png 300w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/06-768x391.png 768w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/06-100x51.png 100w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/06-150x76.png 150w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/06-200x102.png 200w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/06-450x229.png 450w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/06-600x305.png 600w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/06-900x458.png 900w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/06.png 1140w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>You can now click items to select them. To delete a text or image item, just select it then hit <em>Delete<\/em> on your keyboard:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/02-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"913\" height=\"283\" src=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/02-1.png\" alt=\"Select text to delete from a PDF\" class=\"wp-image-1511\" style=\"width:685px;height:212px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/02-1.png 913w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/02-1-300x93.png 300w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/02-1-768x238.png 768w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/02-1-100x31.png 100w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/02-1-150x46.png 150w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/02-1-200x62.png 200w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/02-1-450x139.png 450w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/02-1-600x186.png 600w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/02-1-900x279.png 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 913px) 100vw, 913px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/03.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"913\" height=\"283\" src=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/03.png\" alt=\"Text deleted from a PDF\" class=\"wp-image-1513\" style=\"width:685px;height:212px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/03.png 913w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/03-300x93.png 300w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/03-768x238.png 768w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/03-100x31.png 100w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/03-150x46.png 150w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/03-200x62.png 200w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/03-450x139.png 450w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/03-600x186.png 600w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/03-900x279.png 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 913px) 100vw, 913px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>You can also double-click text to edit it. This lets you delete (or change!) individual words:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/04.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"912\" height=\"217\" src=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/04.png\" alt=\"Select words to delete from a PDF\" class=\"wp-image-1514\" style=\"width:684px;height:163px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/04.png 912w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/04-300x71.png 300w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/04-768x183.png 768w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/04-100x24.png 100w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/04-150x36.png 150w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/04-200x48.png 200w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/04-450x107.png 450w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/04-600x143.png 600w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/04-900x214.png 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 912px) 100vw, 912px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/05.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"913\" height=\"253\" src=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/05.png\" alt=\"Individual words deleted from a PDF\" class=\"wp-image-1515\" style=\"width:685px;height:190px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/05.png 913w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/05-300x83.png 300w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/05-768x213.png 768w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/05-100x28.png 100w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/05-150x42.png 150w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/05-200x55.png 200w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/05-450x125.png 450w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/05-600x166.png 600w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/05-900x249.png 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 913px) 100vw, 913px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Erase in a PDF: Alternate Methods<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are two other ways to erase text and images from a PDF. The first method is easier, but if it gives you any errors or warnings, there is a &#8220;safe&#8221; method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Method 1: Edit the Image of the PDF Page<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>NOTE: If you&#8217;re not using <a href=\"\/filecenter-why.html\">FileCenter<\/a>, you don&#8217;t have this option. It&#8217;s an amazing tool that only FileCenter offers. Not even Adobe has this. Consider <a href=\"\/filecenter-trial.php\">downloading the free trial<\/a> &#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With this method, you&#8217;re going to edit the whole page as if it were an image. This gives you lots of control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>With your PDF open in FileCenter&#8217;s <em>PDF Editor<\/em>, go to the page you want to edit<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Click the <em>Edit Page<\/em> button on the main toolbar<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/10-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"388\" src=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/10-1-1024x388.png\" alt=\"Edit PDF Page\" class=\"wp-image-1518\" style=\"width:768px;height:291px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/10-1-1024x388.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/10-1-300x114.png 300w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/10-1-768x291.png 768w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/10-1-100x38.png 100w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/10-1-150x57.png 150w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/10-1-200x76.png 200w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/10-1-450x171.png 450w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/10-1-600x227.png 600w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/10-1-900x341.png 900w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/10-1.png 1140w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">I got an error!<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>At this point, you may get an error that &#8220;the selected page contains text&#8221;:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/11.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"913\" height=\"462\" src=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/11.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1519\" style=\"width:685px;height:347px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/11.png 913w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/11-300x152.png 300w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/11-768x389.png 768w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/11-100x51.png 100w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/11-150x76.png 150w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/11-200x101.png 200w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/11-450x228.png 450w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/11-600x304.png 600w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/11-900x455.png 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 913px) 100vw, 913px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>What does this mean? It means your page has <em>real text<\/em> in it, and that text will be lost if you continue. What&#8217;s real text? Text that you can select, copy, or search. In other words, your text isn&#8217;t just a picture, it&#8217;s actual text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Will the text disappear if you proceed? No, you&#8217;ll still see it. FileCenter will replace the page with a snapshot of the page. It will look just like it did before, but the actual text will be replaced by a picture of the text. Does this matter? That&#8217;s up to you. If you care about copying text from the page, or using a search engine to search your document contents, it matters. Otherwise, it doesn&#8217;t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want to preserve the text, skip to Method 2 below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Use the Eraser Tools<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Your page will now open in an image editor. Here you have a number of tools for editing the image. The two you care about are <em>Erase Area<\/em> and <em>Eraser<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/12.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"466\" height=\"36\" src=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/12.png\" alt=\"PDF eraser tools\" class=\"wp-image-1520\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/12.png 466w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/12-300x23.png 300w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/12-100x8.png 100w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/12-150x12.png 150w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/12-200x15.png 200w, https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/12-450x35.png 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 466px) 100vw, 466px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>You&#8217;ll probably use the <em>Erase Area<\/em> tool the most. Just draw a rectangle around any area you want to erase. The <em>Eraser<\/em> lets you do freehand erasing. Change the size of the eraser with the <em>Size<\/em> option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you&#8217;re done with your edits, click <em>Commit Changes<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Method 2: Erase Using a Mask<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If all else fails, this method should work:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>With your PDF open in FileCenter&#8217;s <em>PDF Editor<\/em>, go to the page you want to edit<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Click on the <em>Rectangle Tool<\/em> button on the editor&#8217;s toolbar; this will display a <em>Properties Toolbar<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>On the <em>Properties Toolbar<\/em>, set both the <em>Fill Color<\/em> and the <em>Stroke Color<\/em> to white and make sure the <em>Opacity<\/em> is 100%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>With your mouse, select the area on the PDF page that you want to &#8220;erase&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Finally, click the <em>Flatten Comments<\/em> button on the editor&#8217;s toolbar to merge your rectangle into the PDF<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Save your changes<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PDF has become the standard file format for storing and passing around documents that need to 1) look the same on any computer, and 2) not change. That second feature is why we get bank statements, receipts, official letters, etc. &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/erase-in-pdf\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Erase in PDF<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2975,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[],"table_tags":[],"class_list":["post-1506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pdf-software"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Erase in PDF<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How to remove any image or text from a PDF file. The complete guide for erasing in PDFs. Works for almost any PDF file.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.filecenter.com\/blog\/erase-in-pdf\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Erase in PDF\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How to remove any image or text from a PDF file. The complete guide for erasing in PDFs. 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