Redact PDF

POST /v1/redact Remove sensitive content from a PDF. Forme performs true redaction — text operators are removed from the PDF content stream, not just covered with a black box. Metadata is automatically scrubbed on every redaction.

Authorization: Bearer forme_sk_...

Request Body

Field	Type	Required	Description
`pdf`	`string`	Yes	Base64-encoded PDF bytes
`redactions`	`array`	No	Coordinate-based redaction regions
`patterns`	`array`	No	Text search patterns (max 50)
`presets`	`array`	No	Built-in pattern presets
`template`	`string`	No	Slug of a saved redaction template (hosted API only)

At least one of redactions, patterns, presets, or template is required. All can be combined in a single request — patterns from all sources are merged.

Coordinate Redaction

Redact specific rectangular regions by page coordinates. RedactionRegion fields:

Field	Type	Required	Description
`page`	`number`	Yes	Page number (0-indexed)
`x`	`number`	Yes	X coordinate in points from the left edge
`y`	`number`	Yes	Y coordinate in points from the top edge
`width`	`number`	Yes	Width in points
`height`	`number`	Yes	Height in points
`color`	`string`	No	Redaction box color (default: black)

curl -X POST https://api.formepdf.com/v1/redact \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer forme_sk_abc123..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "{
    \"pdf\": \"$(base64 -w0 document.pdf)\",
    \"redactions\": [
      {\"page\": 0, \"x\": 100, \"y\": 200, \"width\": 150, \"height\": 20}
    ]
  }" \
  --output redacted.pdf

Text Pattern Redaction

Find and redact text by literal string or regular expression. RedactionPattern fields:

Field	Type	Required	Description
`pattern`	`string`	Yes	Text to search for (literal string or regex)
`pattern_type`	`string`	Yes	`"Literal"` or `"Regex"`
`page`	`number`	No	Restrict to a specific page (0-indexed). Omit to search all pages.
`color`	`string`	No	Redaction box color (default: black)

curl -X POST https://api.formepdf.com/v1/redact \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer forme_sk_abc123..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "{
    \"pdf\": \"$(base64 -w0 document.pdf)\",
    \"patterns\": [
      {\"pattern\": \"Jane Doe\", \"pattern_type\": \"Literal\"},
      {\"pattern\": \"\\\\d{3}-\\\\d{2}-\\\\d{4}\", \"pattern_type\": \"Regex\"}
    ]
  }" \
  --output redacted.pdf

import fs from 'fs';

const pdf = fs.readFileSync('document.pdf').toString('base64');

const res = await fetch('https://api.formepdf.com/v1/redact', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    Authorization: 'Bearer forme_sk_abc123...',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    pdf,
    patterns: [
      { pattern: 'Jane Doe', pattern_type: 'Literal' },
      { pattern: '\\d{3}-\\d{2}-\\d{4}', pattern_type: 'Regex' },
    ],
  }),
});

const redacted = Buffer.from(await res.arrayBuffer());
fs.writeFileSync('redacted.pdf', redacted);

import requests
import base64

with open("document.pdf", "rb") as f:
    pdf_b64 = base64.b64encode(f.read()).decode()

res = requests.post(
    "https://api.formepdf.com/v1/redact",
    headers={
        "Authorization": "Bearer forme_sk_abc123...",
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    json={
        "pdf": pdf_b64,
        "patterns": [
            {"pattern": "Jane Doe", "pattern_type": "Literal"},
            {"pattern": r"\d{3}-\d{2}-\d{4}", "pattern_type": "Regex"},
        ],
    },
)

with open("redacted.pdf", "wb") as f:
    f.write(res.content)

pdf, _ := os.ReadFile("document.pdf")

body, _ := json.Marshal(map[string]any{
	"pdf": base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString(pdf),
	"patterns": []map[string]string{
		{"pattern": "Jane Doe", "pattern_type": "Literal"},
		{"pattern": `\d{3}-\d{2}-\d{4}`, "pattern_type": "Regex"},
	},
})

req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", "https://api.formepdf.com/v1/redact", bytes.NewReader(body))
req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer forme_sk_abc123...")
req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")

res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
defer res.Body.Close()

out, _ := os.Create("redacted.pdf")
io.Copy(out, res.Body)

Presets

Built-in patterns for common sensitive data types. Pass an array of preset names:

Preset	Matches
`ssn`	US Social Security Numbers (XXX-XX-XXXX)
`email`	Email addresses
`phone`	US phone numbers
`date-of-birth`	Date patterns (MM/DD/YYYY, YYYY-MM-DD, etc.)
`credit-card`	Credit card numbers

curl -X POST https://api.formepdf.com/v1/redact \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer forme_sk_abc123..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "{
    \"pdf\": \"$(base64 -w0 patient-record.pdf)\",
    \"presets\": [\"ssn\", \"email\", \"phone\", \"date-of-birth\"]
  }" \
  --output redacted.pdf

Redaction Templates

Reference a saved set of patterns and presets by slug. Create templates in the dashboard or via the dashboard API.

{
  "pdf": "<base64>",
  "template": "hipaa-patient-record"
}

Combine a template with additional inline patterns — all sources are merged:

{
  "pdf": "<base64>",
  "template": "hipaa-patient-record",
  "patterns": [{"pattern": "Jane Doe", "pattern_type": "Literal"}],
  "presets": ["credit-card"]
}

Redaction templates require the hosted API. Self-hosted users should pass patterns and presets directly.

Response

200 OK with Content-Type: application/pdf — the redacted PDF.

What Gets Removed

Text operators (Tj, TJ, ', ") within redacted regions are removed from the PDF content stream
Metadata is automatically scrubbed: author, creator, edit history, and comments are stripped. /Producer is replaced with “Forme” and /ModDate with the current timestamp.
Visual overlay: A black rectangle covers each redacted area

To verify redaction worked, open the PDF in Chrome and try to select text in the redacted area. If the text is truly removed, there will be nothing to select.

Known Limitations

WinAnsi encoding only: Text search works on standard Western-encoded text. CJK and other non-WinAnsi text is not searchable by patterns — use coordinate redaction instead.
Maximum 50 patterns per request: Combine multiple presets into a single request, but keep the total pattern count under 50.
Images and vector graphics: Visual black rectangles cover these elements, but the underlying image data is not removed from the content stream in v1.

Redaction — how Forme redaction works, compliance use cases
Redaction Templates — creating and managing saved templates

Getting Started

Reference

API Reference

Concepts

Enterprise

SDKs

Guides

Changelog

Request Body

Coordinate Redaction

Text Pattern Redaction

Presets

Redaction Templates

Response

What Gets Removed

Known Limitations

​Request Body

​Coordinate Redaction

​Text Pattern Redaction

​Presets

​Redaction Templates

​Response

​What Gets Removed

​Known Limitations

​Related

Request Body

Coordinate Redaction

Text Pattern Redaction

Presets

Redaction Templates

Response

What Gets Removed

Known Limitations

Related