---
title: "Redacting PDF areas | Nutrient .NET SDK"
canonical_url: "https://www.nutrient.io/guides/dotnet/redaction/pdf-area-redaction/"
md_url: "https://www.nutrient.io/guides/dotnet/redaction/pdf-area-redaction.md"
last_updated: "2026-05-28T01:45:39.266Z"
description: "How to redact fixed PDF areas using Nutrient .NET SDK."
---

# Redacting PDF areas

PDF redaction permanently removes sensitive information from a document. Use it when you need to share or archive files without exposing confidential content.

This guide shows how to:

- Load a PDF

- Define a redaction rectangle by coordinates

- Apply permanent redaction

- Save the sanitized output

## Prepare the project

Register the SDK license before running redaction operations. For setup details, refer to the [getting started with.NET SDK](https://www.nutrient.io/sdk/dotnet/getting-started.md) guide.

```csharp

using GdPicture14;

LicenseManager licence = new LicenseManager();
licence.RegisterKEY(""); // Set your license key

```

## Load the PDF document

Create a `GdPicturePDF` instance and load the source file:

```csharp

using GdPicturePDF pdf = new GdPicturePDF();
pdf.LoadFromFile(@"input.pdf");

```

## Define a redaction region

Add a rectangular region to redact:

```csharp

pdf.AddRedactionRegion(72, 707, 40, 14);

```

Parameters use PDF coordinates:

- X position

- Y position

- Width

- Height

## Apply the redaction

Apply all queued redaction regions:

```csharp

pdf.ApplyRedaction();

```

This operation removes content inside the defined regions from the PDF structure.

## Save the redacted document

Write the redacted output file:

```csharp

pdf.SaveToFile(@"output.pdf");

```

## Coordinate system reference

PDF coordinates use points:

- Origin `(0,0)` — Bottom-left corner

- `72` points = one inch

- X axis increases left to right

- Y axis increases bottom to top

## Additional redaction options

Extend this workflow with:

- Multiple `AddRedactionRegion` calls before `ApplyRedaction`

- Custom redaction colors

- Text-driven redaction

- Annotation redaction

## Error handling and validation

In production, add checks for:

- Input file existence and file type

- Operation status after each call

- Redaction bounds within page size

- Post-redaction verification for sensitive fields

For status-handling patterns, refer to the [handling errors with.NET SDK](https://www.nutrient.io/guides/dotnet/best-practices.md#error-handling) guide.

## Security notes

Before distribution:

- Verify that every instance of sensitive content is redacted

- Confirm that content can’t be recovered through selection or extraction

- Sanitize metadata if needed

- Secure both the original and redacted document versions

## Conclusion

This workflow redacts fixed PDF areas and generates a sanitized output file for secure sharing.
---

## Related pages

- [Redact PDFs in C#.NET](/guides/dotnet/redaction.md)
- [Redact PDFs using coordinates in C#](/guides/dotnet/redaction/redact-by-coordinates.md)
- [Search and redact PDFs in C#](/guides/dotnet/redaction/search-and-redact.md)
- [Smart redaction in C#](/guides/dotnet/redaction/smart-redaction.md)