Delete personal info from PDF before uploading

AnonMouse

Lots of PDFs have details included now that show details of the registration or purchase.

These details can easily be deleted from a copy of the original file so you can share the PDF anonymously using free software programmes.

This is just a few of the free software programmes you can use:
PDF Pro
Form Swift PDF Reader
PDF Escape
PDF Zorro

Duckeyd

Etsy sellers seem to be doing this a lot now. One I bought had my real name address and telephone number provided by etsy to the seller. She told me it was to "protect her intellectual property". I asked her to remove all that because I print my patterns to work on them and if lost? well anything may happen and she did. In many places its not legal to do that. If you buy something and your personal information is embedded within ask the seller to take it out. If they wont then I might suggest taking it higher. Many places take to many liberties with what they do with personal information and identity theft prevails.

Princessmeem

saja.kashmir 2024-12-6 06:46
I was able to remove it by uploading to Google Drive, opening it in Google Docs, and then I could  ...

Thank you so much!!

Sugar999

Ive had to do this too with some McCalls patterns. Its easy to delete the info in a PDF editor. As for hidden info that might be possible, but I havent detected anything so far. If anything, you can always claim you got hacked or lost your USB stick...

Wooggins

Mac users can try Wondershare PDF Element.

Em9817

very helpful cause i always forget

CrazyCrafter13

Thank you. I have known about this for a while now. If there is information that is hidden, how would I know this & would one of those free programs see it to delete it?

Sandy.ego

Thank you so much! I didnt know this. I will definitely be more careful from now on, and write down this info for future reference.

qle

Great tip. Thank you very much

Cidera

There could also be hidden content - either masked by white color or displayed using custom fonds. I try to copy and paste the content of pdf files into text editor and check if anything sus appears. There could for example be a sentence reading as "Shaping the neckline" but when you remove the fonts it's gonna give "Order ID 828271"… Sneaky

idkk

apc replied at 2026-1-21 19:07
What is the point of them doing this? Would that not be against Etsy terms (to take our personal inf ...

Im guessing its so they can track who is reuploading and sharing their stuff but it feels really extreme

Caro1970

thanks for the info!

Breiwilma

Thank you for the info.

crossstitchgal

Thank you for the info!

TheKnitter

Ive inadvertently done that myself!  There have also been times when Ive been unable to edit - dont know what code they put in the pdf? Thanks for the list of free editors :-)

Patty Farinha

certo

cheshireleen

thank u for the info!

Flirti

useful information, thanks