After Redaction OCR cannot find text

[markm14109595]

Hi, I have seen some posts like mine but do not understand the suggested solutions.  I have pdf files with Social Security numbers that I need to redact.  I open the pdf file and do OCR (which I assume is necessary for the redaction).  I then redact and most SSN's are automatically blackened.  There are always a few to do manually.  Then I save the pdf file.  When I show the file to my boss, the redactions are fine but when I search for a name or city, OCR shows no results.  My solution is to do the OCR over again.  Is that the ony way to do this?

Thanks in advance.

[Amal. · Accepted solution]

Hi @markm14109595 

Hope you are doing well and sorry to hear that

Is this an issue with a particular PDF file or with all the PDFs? Please try with a different PDF file and check. If the file is stored on a shared network/drive please download it to your computer locally and then try again.

What is the workflow/steps you are doing to redact the PDF file? A small video recording of the steps and the issue would be very helpful

What is the version of Acrobat DC are you using? To check the version, go to Help > About Acrobat and ensure you have the recent version 22.3.20281 (Mac) or 22.3.20282 (Win) installed. Go to Help > Check for updates and reboot the computer once.

Also try to repair the installation from the help menu (Win Only) and see if that works.

Please try to reset the Acrobat preferences as described here https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat-discussions/how-to-reset-acrobat-preference-settings-to-defau...

You may also try to create a new test user profile with full admin rights in Win or enable the root account in MAC and try using the application there and check.

Regards
Amal

[markm14109595]

Amal,

  Thanks for your reply.  I have been using Acrobat Pro 9 for ORC and redact without any issues.  I downloaded a trail verson of Acrobat Pro XII thinking it might be easier to use and better at finding Social Security numbers. But the issue I mentioned came up almost immediately: OCR, Redact, OCR gone, do the OCR over again.  Also, I ran into a known issue where I could not delete or rotate pages: The Acrobat message said that the page was in use.  I had to save the pdf file to the desktop, shut down Acrobat, restart Acrobat, reopen the desktop copy and then I could delete or rotate pages as normal.

 Anyway, I give up on version XII and am going to rely on good, old Version 9.  Thanks, again.  I am closong this issue.

mark