Get started

Overview

Lex Cloak runs on your computer and never uploads your documents. The flow is the same every time you redact a PDF: open the document, review what was found, adjust anything that needs a different decision, preview the final output, and save the redacted copy.

The first time you launch the app, two short steps come before the document loop: pick the kind of documents you work with, and activate your license. After that, getting started is the loop itself.

Open a PDF

Drag a PDF anywhere onto the Lex Cloak window, or click browse files to choose one. Lex Cloak starts scanning as soon as the file loads, including on scanned PDFs, which are read with built-in OCR. Multiple files dropped at once open as separate documents you can switch between in the sidebar.

If the PDF is password-protected, Lex Cloak asks for the password and unlocks the document on your computer to work with it. Nothing about the file leaves your machine.

Pick a detection profile

The first time you launch the app, Lex Cloak asks what kind of documents you handle and sets up a matching profile, such as General, Healthcare, Legal, FOIA, Education, or Forensic Psychiatry. Pick the one closest to your work, and start with General if you are not sure. You can switch any time from the template chip in the toolbar, and switching re-scans the current document.

See detection profiles for what each one tunes.

Activate your license

Lex Cloak is free to scan, so you can open any document and see what is detected without a license. A license is what unlocks redacting and exporting the finished file. Activate by entering your email; Lex Cloak sends a one-time code to confirm it, so there is no password to remember. Your license is keyed to your email and works on both macOS and Windows.

Step-by-step plus the I did not receive my code case lives on activate your license.

Review and adjust

After the scan, the sidebar lists every match grouped by category, such as Name, Date of birth, or Social Security number. Click any match to jump to it on the page. Red boxes are confident matches; amber dashed boxes are uncertain and asking for your decision. Work through the list, turn off anything that should stay, add anything that was missed, then preview.

Three short leaves cover the review tools in depth: red boxes and the review loop, add your own redactions, and the Always Redact and Never Redact lists.

Preview and save

Press P or click Preview to hide the review markup and see the real black-box output before you save. When the preview looks right, click Download to save the redacted copy. A short pre-download checklist points out items worth a second look, such as signatures found or categories you turned off, and then a Save dialog from your operating system lets you choose the name and folder. Your original file is untouched.

Full step-by-step: preview, checklist and download.

Watch the getting-started tour again

The short getting-started tour plays once the first time you open Lex Cloak. To watch it again, open the About box from the info button in the sidebar header and choose Watch tour.

Start a new document

Click New in the toolbar to clear the current document and open a fresh PDF without restarting the app.