Removing Metadata from PDF documents using Notepad++

PDF documents can easily reveal the author name , date and time on which the document was created and PDF software used , which can be used to guess the identity of person , timezone and operating system and PDF software version used in computer.  I found a simple way to hide these basic information from PDF documents using Notepad++.

STEP1:

 Get the PDF document ,  make sure it is of PDF version 1.5 or below. For PDF 1.6 and above , we can just downgrade them using software like imagemagick by converting PDF to images and converting them back to PDF of version 1.5.

STEP2:

View the PDF metadata in a browser or exiftool and check information present before removal of 

Metadata.

 

STEP3:

Search for Author, Creator, Creation date after opening PDF document in notepad++.

STEP4:

Remove lines containg words creater , date , etc as shown in the image above. 

 STEP5:

Ensure that all lines which contained identifying metadata in plaintext are removed and save it as new copy to avoid corruption of data.

 STEP6:

  

Finally Details like creation date, Author are hidden from casual ordinary computer user.

WARNING:

This method is irreversible and cannot be undone . This method may lead to data loss.

Always try this method after keeping a copy of document for safety.

NOTE: This can protect you from a non-technical person but can't protect you from a forensic analysis.

Take a look at MAT2 ( https://0xacab.org/jvoisin/mat2 )  which removes most metadata, my method does not guarantee removal of all metadata , it just prevents most users from getting this information.

Conclusion:

The above method can be used to efficiently hide creation date and original author for casual use enough to hide from teachers , professors , parents and fellow students who want to see when did you create  PDF document for Projects , Homeworks etc  .

For high risks users this method is strictly not applicable.