Building a clean PDF file: merging, ordering and redacting without leaking information

Start by listing the documents requested, in the order the recipient expects them. Many organisations publish this list: following it to the letter makes your file easier to process, and therefore faster.

Then rename your files with a sequence number and a short description, for example 01-id-card.pdf, 02-tax-notice-2025.pdf. This simple step prevents you from swapping two similar documents, and gives you a checklist when you verify the result.

If some documents are photos rather than PDFs, convert them first: a 10 MB smartphone photo can be shrunk to a JPG with no visible loss, which keeps the final file from becoming too heavy to send.

In FileXvert's PDF editor, add all your documents: each one appears as page thumbnails. You can then reorder them by drag and drop, delete a useless page (a blank page, terms and conditions nobody asked for), rotate a page that was scanned upside down, or extract just a few pages from a long document.

The editor can also number the pages of the final document, which helps the recipient check that nothing is missing, and add a watermark. A watermark such as Copy for agency X only, rental application limits the misuse of your documents, a piece of advice regularly given to fight identity theft.

As with conversions, everything happens in your browser: your documents are sent to no server, which matters especially for identity papers or tax documents. The PDF editor is part of the Premium plan.

Hiding information in a PDF does not mean drawing a black rectangle over it. Yet that is what most annotation tools do, and it has caused high-profile leaks, including in court and government documents: the text is still there under the rectangle. Selecting it, copying and pasting, or extracting the PDF's text is enough to read it.

FileXvert's redaction tool avoids this trap through flattening, which is on by default. Each page that carries a redaction is redrawn as an image, at roughly 144 dots per inch, with its black boxes. The hidden text then truly disappears from the file instead of simply being covered.

This choice has a trade-off worth knowing: on flattened pages, text can no longer be selected or searched, and the page is somewhat heavier. Pages without redaction remain untouched.

A PDF carries properties you do not see on screen: title, author, subject, keywords, creating software. A document exported from a work computer can thus reveal your employer's name or a colleague's, and a forgotten document title can betray a working draft.

Before exporting, the editor lets you rewrite this metadata or erase it completely. For a file sent to a third party, erasing it is the safest choice.

The editor lets you add a signature drawn by hand or imported as an image. That is handy for a form you must return signed, but you should know what it is worth: it is a visual signature, the digital equivalent of a scanned signature. It does not replace an electronic signature under the European eIDAS regulation, which relies on a certificate and guarantees the signer's identity and the document's integrity. If the other party requires an electronic signature, they will tell you which service to use.

Before sending, open the final PDF in a reader other than the editor, your browser's for example, and go through this list:

Finally, keep your original files: the assembled PDF is a copy for sending, not an archive.