groupdocs-redaction-net 26.6.0

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GroupDocs.Redaction for Python via .NET is a document-sanitization API for permanently removing sensitive information. Redact text by exact phrase or regular expression, scrub or replace metadata, remove or rewrite annotations, black out image regions, delete whole pages, and rasterize the result so nothing redacted can be recovered — across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, images, and text formats through one unified API, with no MS Office, OpenOffice, or other external software required.

Get Started

pip install groupdocs-redaction-net

from groupdocs.redaction import Redactor
from groupdocs.redaction.redactions import ExactPhraseRedaction, ReplacementOptions

with Redactor("document.docx") as redactor:
    redactor.apply(ExactPhraseRedaction("confidential", ReplacementOptions("[REDACTED]")))
    redactor.save()

How It Works

The package is a self-contained Python wheel that bundles the embedded .NET runtime and every native dependency (SkiaSharp, Aspose.Drawing) needed to load, redact, and save documents. No external software installation is required — just pip install and start redacting. The wheel works across Python 3.5 – 3.14 on Windows, Linux, and macOS (Intel + Apple Silicon).

Features

• Text redaction — remove or replace text by exact phrase (case-sensitive or not) or by regular expression; draw a colored box over the match instead of replacing it.
• Metadata redaction — erase or rewrite document metadata by filter (author, company, comments, …) or by key/value pattern.
• Annotation redaction — replace annotation text by pattern or delete matching annotations entirely.
• Image-area redaction — black out a rectangular region of a page; combine text + image redaction for page areas.
• Page redaction — remove pages from the start or end of a document.
• Rasterization — flatten the output to a PDF (optionally with tilt / noise / border / grayscale) so redacted content cannot be extracted.
• Custom rules & callbacks — plug in a custom redaction handler or an IRedactionCallback to accept/reject each match.
• Document introspection — read format, page count, size, and per-page dimensions before processing.
• Cross-Platform — Windows x64/x86, Linux x64, macOS x64/ARM64.

Common Tasks

• Strip personal data (names, SSNs, emails, phone numbers) from a contract before sharing
• Black out an exact phrase or a regex match across every page of a document
• Erase all metadata (or just author/company) from a DOCX, XLSX, or PDF
• Remove or rewrite annotations/comments left in a reviewed document
• Redact a fixed image region (a logo, a signature, a photo) on a page
• Rasterize a redacted document to PDF so nothing can be copied back out

Supported File Formats

For a complete list, see supported formats.

Category	Formats
Word Processing	DOC, DOCX, DOCM, DOT, DOTX, DOTM, RTF, TXT, ODT, OTT
Spreadsheets	XLS, XLSX, XLSM, XLSB, CSV, TSV, ODS, OTS, NUMBERS
Presentations	PPT, PPTX, ODP
Fixed-Layout	PDF
Images	BMP, JPG, JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIF, TIFF, JP2
Web & Markdown	HTM, HTML, MD

Examples

Redact an exact phrase

from groupdocs.redaction import Redactor
from groupdocs.redaction.redactions import ExactPhraseRedaction, ReplacementOptions

with Redactor("document.docx") as redactor:
    # case-insensitive by default; pass True for case-sensitive
    redactor.apply(ExactPhraseRedaction("John Doe", True, ReplacementOptions("[CUSTOMER]")))
    redactor.save()

Redact by regular expression

from groupdocs.redaction import Redactor
from groupdocs.redaction.redactions import RegexRedaction, ReplacementOptions

with Redactor("document.docx") as redactor:
    # numbers (e.g. SSNs, IDs)
    redactor.apply(RegexRedaction(r"\d{2,}", ReplacementOptions("[NUMBER]")))
    # email addresses
    redactor.apply(RegexRedaction(r"[\w.%+-]+@[\w.-]+\.[A-Za-z]{2,}", ReplacementOptions("[EMAIL]")))
    redactor.save()

Draw a black box instead of replacing text

from groupdocs.redaction import Redactor
from groupdocs.redaction.redactions import ExactPhraseRedaction, ReplacementOptions
from groupdocs.pydrawing import Color

with Redactor("document.pdf") as redactor:
    redactor.apply(ExactPhraseRedaction("Top Secret", ReplacementOptions(Color.BLACK)))
    redactor.save()

Scrub metadata

from groupdocs.redaction import Redactor
from groupdocs.redaction.redactions import EraseMetadataRedaction, MetadataSearchRedaction, MetadataFilters

with Redactor("document.docx") as redactor:
    redactor.apply(EraseMetadataRedaction(MetadataFilters.ALL))           # wipe everything
    redactor.apply(MetadataSearchRedaction(".*@acme\\.com", "[EMAIL]"))   # rewrite by value pattern
    redactor.save()

Black out an image region

from groupdocs.redaction import Redactor
from groupdocs.redaction.redactions import ImageAreaRedaction, RegionReplacementOptions
from groupdocs.pydrawing import Point, Size, Color

with Redactor("scan.pdf") as redactor:
    redactor.apply(ImageAreaRedaction(Point(50, 60), RegionReplacementOptions(Color.BLACK, Size(200, 80))))
    redactor.save()

Save in the original format (no rasterization)

By default save() rasterizes the result to a PDF and appends a _Redacted suffix. To keep the source format instead:

from groupdocs.redaction import Redactor
from groupdocs.redaction.redactions import RegexRedaction, ReplacementOptions
from groupdocs.redaction.options import SaveOptions

with Redactor("document.docx") as redactor:
    redactor.apply(RegexRedaction(r"\d+", ReplacementOptions("[NUM]")))
    redactor.save(SaveOptions(rasterize_to_pdf=False))   # writes document_Redacted.docx

Get document info

from groupdocs.redaction import Redactor

with Redactor("document.pdf") as redactor:
    info = redactor.get_document_info()
    print("Type:", info.file_type.file_format)
    print("Pages:", info.page_count)
    print("Size:", info.size, "bytes")

Redact from / to binary streams

import io
from groupdocs.redaction import Redactor
from groupdocs.redaction.redactions import ExactPhraseRedaction, ReplacementOptions
from groupdocs.redaction.options import RasterizationOptions

with open("document.docx", "rb") as src:
    with Redactor(src) as redactor:
        redactor.apply(ExactPhraseRedaction("secret", ReplacementOptions("[X]")))
        ro = RasterizationOptions(); ro.enabled = False     # keep original format
        buffer = io.BytesIO()
        redactor.save(buffer, ro)                            # BytesIO is updated after save
        data = buffer.getvalue()

AI Agent & LLM Friendly

This package is designed for seamless integration with AI agents, LLMs, and automated code generation tools.

• AGENTS.md in the package — AI coding assistants (Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot) auto-discover the API surface, usage patterns, and troubleshooting tips from the installed package
• MCP server — connect your AI tool to GroupDocs documentation for on-demand API lookups:

  { "mcpServers": { "groupdocs-docs": { "url": "https://docs.groupdocs.com/mcp" } } }
  

• Machine-readable docs — full documentation available as plain text for RAG and LLM context:
  • Single file: https://docs.groupdocs.com/redaction/python-net/llms-full.txt
  • Per page: append .md to any docs URL

Evaluation Mode

The API works without a license in evaluation mode, with these limitations:

• Only one document may be opened per process.
• Output is restricted: PDF output carries an evaluation watermark and other formats show an equivalent evaluation mark.

To remove these limitations, apply a license or request a temporary license:

from groupdocs.redaction import License
License().set_license("path/to/license.lic")

Or set the environment variable (auto-applied at import):

export GROUPDOCS_LIC_PATH="path/to/license.lic"

Troubleshooting

Issue	Platform	Fix
Trial mode allows only 1 document to open	All	Apply a license — License().set_license(...) or set GROUPDOCS_LIC_PATH
System.Drawing.Common is not supported	Linux/macOS	apt-get install libgdiplus (Linux) or brew install mono-libgdiplus (macOS)
The type initializer for 'Gdip' threw an exception	macOS	brew install mono-libgdiplus
Garbled text / missing fonts in output	Linux	apt-get install ttf-mscorefonts-installer fontconfig && fc-cache -f
DOTNET_SYSTEM_GLOBALIZATION_INVARIANT errors	Linux	Do NOT set this variable. ICU must be available.
IncorrectPasswordException / PasswordRequiredException	All	Open with Redactor(path, LoadOptions(password="..."))

System Requirements

• Python 3.5 - 3.14
• Windows x64/x86, Linux x64, macOS x64/ARM64
• No additional software required

More Resources

• Documentation
• Code Examples
• Free Support Forum
• Temporary License

Also available for other platforms: .NET | Java

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Product Page | Docs | Demos | API Reference | Blog | Free Support | Temporary License