Redact an image

file4edit's redact tool hides parts of an image by destroying the pixels underneath — pixelating, blurring or filling them — and writes that into the exported file rather than drawing a box over the top. Drag across the picture to mark a region, or type its X, Y, width and height in real image pixels. The export is composed from a full-resolution copy of the file rather than from the scaled preview, so every region destroys the pixels that were actually there.

How it works

  1. Add the image Drop an image onto the page. Redact works on one image at a time and keeps the first if you drop several.
  2. Pick a method Choose pixelate, blur or solid fill. Pixelate takes a block size from 4 to 64 px, blur takes a radius from 2 to 40 px, and solid fill takes a color.
  3. Mark what to hide Drag across the image to draw a region, or type X, Y, width and height in the rail and press Add region. Every value is an image pixel.
  4. Adjust the regions Tab reaches each region. Arrow keys nudge it one pixel, shift plus an arrow moves it ten, and Delete removes it. The regions list on the stage shows each one's size and position.
  5. Export Choose an output format and press Export redacted image. The button stays disabled until at least one region exists, and the file is saved as name-redacted.ext.

Questions

Can a redaction made here be undone or reversed?
No. file4edit's redact tool replaces the pixels inside a region in the exported file rather than covering them with a box, so there is no layer to peel off and nothing to lift out of the result. Pixelate downsamples the region to one value per block and scales it back up, blur resamples it, and solid fill paints over it — each writes into the canvas that is then encoded.
Is a blur strong enough to hide small text?
Not necessarily. A light blur over small text can still be read, so keep the radius well above the stroke width of the letters, and if you pixelate, small text needs a block size of at least 16. Blur also depends on the browser being able to filter a canvas: where it cannot, the tool disables blur and tells you, because pixelate and solid fill destroy the same pixels without it.
Does redacting also remove the photo's metadata?
Yes, as a side effect. Exporting writes a new file from the canvas, so EXIF goes with it — the camera, the timestamp and any GPS location tag are not carried over into the redacted file.

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