Remove author metadata from PDF annotations in preview

pdfpreview

I need to provide comments on PDFs as part of the refereeing process for journal articles. How can I remove my name from the annotations I've made using Mac Preview? (they can be seen in Inspector: Annotations, but seem not to be editable)

Best Answer

I have the exact same problem. While you should anonymize yourself in the prefs, I don't fully trust that method, so:

  1. Make a copy of the annotated PDF file
  2. Drag and drop to open in a text editor like TextWrangler, or hex editor like HexEdit (Don't worry about any binary-looking weird characters)
  3. Search for your name and replace with the exact same number of Xs or I usually throw in a space among the Xs so it looks like a different name.
  4. Save the file in place
  5. Open in Preview and mouse over the annotations to see the anonymized version
Related Question