Redact patient details from PDFs without uploading them

Read this first

Vault Studio Pro is not a HIPAA-certified product. We don't sign business associate agreements, we have no SOC 2 or ISO 27001 report, and the product is made by a US sole proprietor rather than a vendor with a compliance team. There is no admin console, no user management and no central audit log. What we can say precisely is how the software works: your files are processed in the browser and aren't sent to us. Whether you may use it with protected health information is a decision for your privacy or compliance officer, under your organization's policies. If your policies require a BAA for every tool, this is not the tool for PHI.

Where it fits in a practice

• Removing a patient's details from a sample claim, form or letter before it is used for training.
• Blacking out other patients' information that appears on a page you need to send.
• Filling in and flattening a PDF form from a payer or another practice.
• Making a faxed or scanned referral searchable so you can find a date or a code.
• Blacking out a card or ID number on a photo before it is attached to an email.

Redacting a PDF, step by step

1. Open the app, choose PDF, and open the file from your computer.
2. Choose the redact tool and drag a box over each name, date of birth, member ID, address, phone number and account number you need to remove. Check headers, footers, fax cover sheets and stamps.
3. Save. Every page with a box is rebuilt as an image with the boxes burned in, so the text underneath is removed from the file, not covered. Pages without a box keep their text.
4. Open the saved copy and search for a redacted name to confirm nothing is found.

The tool only removes what you box; it doesn't find identifiers for you. Saving with a redaction box does clear the file's title, author, subject and keywords, reset the producer/creator fields, and remove XMP metadata and embedded attachments automatically; it doesn't touch bookmarks, so check those separately. How PDF redaction works explains the method and its trade-offs.

Forms, scans and images

The PDF editor fills existing form fields (text, tick boxes, radio buttons and drop-downs), lets you add fields to a PDF that has none, and flattens the answers into the page. A signature placed with the signature tool is an image of a signature, not a certificate-based digital signature, so check whether the recipient accepts that.

OCR reads scanned pages so you can search and copy the text. It recognises English only and works best on clean printed text; handwriting and faint faxes produce mistakes, so check anything that matters, such as codes and dosages. The first page of each PDF is free, and Pro runs OCR on every page.

For a photo of an insurance card or an ID, Image Studio has solid blackout boxes. The exported image is a new flat file, so a blacked-out number is gone from it. Prefer blackout to pixelation for numbers and text.

On a shared workstation

Projects are autosaved in the browser's storage on that computer, and that storage is not encrypted. On a front-desk PC used by several people, save the finished file to the location your organization approves, then delete the project in the app. Clearing the browser's site data also deletes it. Dictation sends audio to the browser's speech service (Google or Apple), so don't use it for patient information. Browser extensions can read the pages you open, including this app, so use a browser profile your IT team manages.

Sending a file securely

The File Safe can lock a file in a password-encrypted .vault file (AES-256-GCM). The recipient needs Vault Studio Pro and the password. That makes it practical between colleagues, not for sending to patients or payers, who will expect your organization's secure email or portal. Use whatever channel your policies name.

What it doesn't do

• No BAA, no HIPAA certification, no SOC 2 report.
• No automatic detection of patient identifiers; you box each one.
• Metadata removal is automatic once you redact; bookmarks aren't cleaned up, so check those yourself.
• No encryption of projects stored in the browser.
• No accounts, roles or audit trail, so it can't show who opened what.

Cost

Redaction, form filling, the editors and the File Safe are free, and OCR is free on the first page of each PDF. Pro costs $9 for a one-off Week Pass, $15 a month, $99 a year or $299 once, and every Pro feature is unlocked for the first 7 days with no card. During the launch, a Founders plan costs $59 a year for as long as you renew (until 2026-12-01). See pricing, and the security page for exactly what leaves the device.