White out an area of a PDF
The tool covers the area with the background color, like correction fluid on paper. It is a gesture of correction, not of confidentiality: the text stays in the file, underneath.
Free · 100% local — nothing is uploaded- 1Open your PDF.
- 2Choose White out and drag across the area to cover.
- 3Download the document.
How to white out an area of a PDF
Open the document, choose Cover, and drag across the area to make disappear. Vélin detects the background color and repaints the area in that color: on a white page the patch does not show; on a colored ground or a slightly gray scan, the shade is picked up instead of sticking a white square on it. This is the action of correction fluid on paper — masking a line that no longer holds, a stamp, a footer that has no reason to be there, a logo — and you can write over it straight afterwards. Say it to yourself plainly before using it: this is a visual correction, not a confidentiality measure. The covered text stays in the file, underneath, and comes back on a copy-paste or an extraction. Everything happens inside your browser, with nothing uploaded.
Cover, redact, delete: which to choose
Covering masks and leaves the content in place: perfect for cleaning up a page, dangerous for hiding a secret. Redaction really removes the characters from the page’s content stream — they no longer copy, no longer search, no longer extract — and that is what you need for an account number, an address, a name. Deleting text, finally, removes the passage and puts nothing in its place, when the page simply has to do without it. All three gestures exist because they answer different questions.
Frequently asked questions
Is the covered text removed from the file?
No, and that matters: it stays underneath, and copying the text will bring it back. To take it out for good, use redaction, which really removes it from the file.
When should I prefer whiteout?
When you are correcting rather than withholding: erasing a layout rule, masking a frame, preparing a clean ground before writing over it.
Is the background color detected?
The area is painted white by default; on a colored ground, pick the shade in the style bar so that the patch disappears.
Can I write over the area I covered?
That is the most common use: white out a line that no longer holds, then write the new one in its place, in the font of the neighboring text. The two tools follow one another without leaving the page.
Does the tool work on an image or a scan?
Yes: the area is painted over, whatever lies beneath — text, image, scan. But what lies beneath stays there; on a confidential scan, redaction is what you need.