Automator alters files?

[StevieY19]

Hi all,

Been having a nightmare with PDFs lately and could greatly use some help.

First of all, I'm submitting job applications and using a writing sample with some sensitive client information I need to redact. This has been a nightmare trying to do on a Mac. I guess I could just change the names to John Doe but it looks weird and redacting would be easier. Haven't been able to do this except on my work PC. If anyone has suggestions on how to do this on a Mac, that would be great.

Second problem is instead of emailing 3-4 separate documents, places generally prefer one PDF file. I managed to combine my relevant files into one using Automator but Automator removed the previous redactions (essentially just black highlighted using my office PC) in the new file it created for some reason. Is there something I can do to ensure this does not happen? Or am I stuck just doing the John Doe idea? My last day at work was Friday so using the office computer where this would be easier is not an option.

Thanks.

 

[Kaveman]

1. Pages is fully AppleScriptable. It can find and replace text very easily. You don't say what App you have the text in.

2. PDFs are not designed to be edited, I'm not sure what App you are using to edit the PDF, but its not doing a good job and this is showing up in Automator. It sounds like the editor is putting an box over the old text and then the text over that and the box colour isn't set properly.