On-device redaction for serious document review

Redact in draft. Share the sanitized copy.

PDF-dactyl helps you find sensitive terms, OCR scanned pages, manually review every redaction, and export a cleaner PDF built for safe sharing. Import, search, OCR, export validation, and SHA-256 hashing all stay on your device.

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OCR Find text inside scanned and image-based PDFs on-device.

Drafts Remove mistakes before export without pretending final PDFs are reversible.

SHA-256 Hash exports and verify files later against the recorded value.

Export Review Strong Sanitization

Draft project

Editable redactions, OCR cache, term list

Reopenable

Sanitized PDF

Flattened pages, cleaner metadata, validation summary

Shareable

Audit output

Time stamp, OCR pages, match count, hash

Optional

A workflow built around review, not guesswork.

PDF-dactyl is designed around the difference between a reversible draft and a final export. You inspect first, correct mistakes while it is still safe to do so, then generate a new sanitized PDF for disclosure.

Import and inspect

Open a PDF from Files, duplicate it into the app sandbox, inspect page count and metadata, and decide how aggressive the export should be.

Search terms or OCR scanned pages

Use native PDF text search where available, and on-device OCR for low-text or scanned pages so image-based content can still be reviewed.

Review the draft redactions

Redact all matches, selected matches, text selections, or manual boxes. Move or remove mistaken regions before final export.

Export a safer copy

Generate a new sanitized PDF, strip or minimize metadata, validate tracked terms, and record a SHA-256 hash for integrity checking.

Built for privacy-sensitive PDF work.

The product prioritizes clarity, auditability, and control over flashy automation. Every feature is local-first and centered on review quality.

Term-based redaction

Enter one or many words and phrases, toggle case sensitivity, review hit counts by page, and redact selected or all matches.

OCR for scanned PDFs

Render scanned pages, run Vision OCR on-device, and map matching words or phrases back into reviewable redaction boxes.

Manual control

Add manual boxes, redact selected text, move draft regions, remove page-level mistakes, and undo or redo editing operations.

Imported redaction audit

Inspect PDFs made in other tools, detect annotation-style redactions, and flag pages that still expose extractable text beneath visible cover marks.

Sanitized export

Build a new PDF with flattened redactions instead of relying on removable overlays as the only protection.

Metadata cleanup

Choose standard, strong, or maximum sanitization to control how aggressively the export is rebuilt and cleaned.

Audit and verification

Generate PDF or text audit reports and verify exported files later by SHA-256 hash without leaving the device.

Pick the sanitization mode that fits the disclosure risk.

PDF-dactyl separates editing from sharing. You can keep correcting the draft project until you are ready, then choose how aggressively the final PDF should be rebuilt for release.

Standard

Rebuilds redacted pages, cleans the primary metadata fields, and keeps the rest of the document as intact as practical.

Strong

Also rebuilds pages with auxiliary annotations and is intended for documents where comments or markup history should not survive the handoff.

Maximum

Re-renders every page into a flattened share-safe copy. It is the heaviest option, but the safest when document residue matters more than selectable text.

Illustrated PDF-dactyl verification mockup

Search, sanitize, then verify the file you actually export.

PDF-dactyl does more than cover text. It records a SHA-256 hash for the sanitized output, lets you copy it immediately, and includes the hash in the audit report for later verification.

Built for trustable handoff Export summary includes pages processed, OCR page list, sanitization level, validation outcome, export duration, and integrity hash.

Imported from another PDF editor?

PDF-dactyl can audit third-party PDFs for sloppy redaction mistakes. If a file only looks redacted but still carries an extractable text layer, the app can flag the page, show that existing text locally for authorized review, and generate a safer flattened export.

External annotation marks

When another editor stored redactions as removable annotations, PDF-dactyl can identify them and import them into draft review so they can be replaced with a safer workflow.

Visible cover marks with hidden text

When the page still contains extractable text under a black bar or similar visual cover, PDF-dactyl can expose that already-present text locally and then sanitize the page properly.

Made for real privacy workflows.

Legal and compliance review

Prepare disclosure copies, remove tracked terms, and keep a separate editable draft while review is still in progress.

Field and contractor records

Clean PDFs before sending them outside your organization, especially when source files combine scans, notes, and exported forms.

Privacy-first document handling

Keep OCR, matching, hashing, and reporting local instead of uploading sensitive files to a service you do not control.

Designed for iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

The workspace is built around Apple-native document tools: PDFKit for viewing, Vision for OCR, CryptoKit for hashing, and a SwiftUI shell that adapts from iPhone review flows to wide-screen iPad and Mac layouts.

Workspace behavior

thumbnail navigation on larger screens
page indicator and search result navigation
manual box drawing and selected-text redaction
undo and redo for draft editing
saved redaction profiles and reusable term sets

Export behavior

editable project package for later reopening
sanitized PDF export for sharing
optional PDF and text audit report output
validation summary after export
SHA-256 hash display, copy, and verification

Why the trust model matters.

What stays editable

source PDF copied into the app sandbox
search terms and hit lists
manual redactions and OCR-derived redactions
saved draft project package for later correction

What changes at export

redacted pages are rebuilt for sharing
draft-only structures stay out of the sanitized PDF
tracked terms are validated again on the exported file
the app does not present the final export as reversible

PDF-dactyl performs OCR, search, redaction, hashing, report generation, and export validation on-device. No analytics, no trackers, and no cloud processing are included in the app.

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Questions people ask before they trust a redaction tool.

Is this only drawing black boxes on top of a PDF? No. Draft editing is review-oriented, but the export path creates a new sanitized PDF intended for sharing rather than leaving draft overlays as the only protection.

What if the document is a scan with no searchable text? PDF-dactyl can render the page, run on-device OCR, and place draft redactions on matched image regions so you can still inspect and export a safer copy.

Can it show text from a badly redacted imported PDF? Yes, but only when that text is still present in the file already, such as a hidden text layer or removable annotation workflow. PDF-dactyl does not claim to reconstruct content from truly flattened final exports.

Can the app prove the shared file is the one I exported? It records a SHA-256 hash, shows it immediately after export, and includes it in the optional audit report so the output can be checked later.

Does the final export remain editable inside the app? No. PDF-dactyl keeps the draft project for reversible review, but it does not present the sanitized export as an unredactable working file.