Latch

Redact sensitive details in an image

Black out names, account numbers, addresses, or signatures on a document, statement, ID, or screenshot. Draw a bar over each detail — the covered pixels are replaced for good, with nothing left underneath.

Your files never leave this device

JPEG, PNG, WebP · one image at a time · up to 50 MB

Black out sensitive details

Drag & drop your image

Accepts JPEG, PNG, WebP · one image at a time, up to 50 MB

How to redact an image

Four steps, a few seconds, zero uploads.

1

Add your image

Drag the document, screenshot, or photo onto the editor, or click Browse. JPEG, PNG, and WebP are accepted.

2

Draw over each detail

Drag a black bar over every name, number, or line you want to hide. Add as many as you need.

3

Check the coverage

Make sure each bar fully covers the detail. Blackout replaces the covered pixels entirely — the strongest option.

4

Download

Save the result. The bars are flattened into the pixels, so nothing sensitive remains in the file.

Are black bars actually safe?

You may have heard of redactions being undone — a black box lifted off a document to reveal the text beneath. That happens with PDFs and other layered documents, where drawing a box only adds a graphic on top while the original text stays in the file, ready to be copied out. It's a real and common mistake.

This tool avoids it by working on pixels, not layers. When you export, the bar's pixels overwrite the originals and the whole image is flattened — there is no text, no layer, and no original detail hiding underneath. And because it all happens in your browser, the sensitive image is never uploaded. If you need to redact a PDF specifically, remember it must be flattened or rasterised first; a box drawn in a PDF editor is not enough.

Frequently asked

Is my image uploaded to a server?

No. The image is opened, redacted, and re-saved entirely in your browser with the Canvas API. Nothing is uploaded, so even documents full of personal data stay on your device.

Can the blacked-out content be recovered?

No. A blackout bar replaces the covered pixels with solid colour and is flattened into the exported image — there is no original detail left underneath. It's the strongest of the three options: blur and pixelation obscure detail and can occasionally be reversed if applied too lightly, whereas a solid bar removes it outright.

I've heard black-box redactions can be undone — is this safe?

That failure happens with black boxes drawn over text in PDFs or other documents, where the text layer still exists underneath the graphic and can be copied out. This tool exports a flat raster image: the pixels themselves are overwritten, so there is no hidden text or layer beneath the bar. To redact a PDF safely you must flatten or rasterise it — drawing a box in a PDF editor is not enough.

Can I redact several things at once?

Yes. Draw a separate bar over each detail — there is no limit. You can move, resize, or delete any bar before you export.

Should I use blackout, blur, or pixelate?

Use blackout when the goal is certainty — an account number, an address, a name on an ID. If you'd rather show that something is present but hidden, such as a face in a photo, the blur and pixelate tools do that with a softer look.

Related privacy tools: Blur part of an image · Pixelate an image · Blur a face · Remove photo metadata