PDF tools for government and public sector
Combine FOIA response packets, redact PII, OCR archived records, sign approvals. Tools designed for government workflows.
Government agencies — federal, state, county, municipal — produce and process more PDFs than perhaps any other sector. FOIA responses, public records requests, regulatory filings, intra-agency communications, archived case files, agenda packets for public meetings. Speed and consistency in PDF handling translates directly to faster citizen response times.
PDFOnly's government-relevant toolkit: redacting PII from FOIA response packets before public release (Edit PDF + Compress for permanent redaction); OCR for digitizing archived paper records; combining multi-source documents into a single FOIA response or agenda packet; converting between PDF and Word for collaborative document editing across departments; password-protecting sensitive interagency communications. For agencies requiring formal compliance (FedRAMP, FISMA), Enterprise tier offers an architecture review and custom data residency options. For most everyday public-sector workflows, the free or Pro tier handles it.
Frequently asked questions
Is PDFOnly approved for federal use?
We're not on FedRAMP. For federal agencies requiring authorized cloud services for sensitive data, our Enterprise tier supports a self-hosted deployment (you run the Docker stack on your own infrastructure) which keeps all data within your boundaries. For non-sensitive public-records work, the regular cloud tier is widely used.
How permanent is the redaction for FOIA responses?
True permanent redaction: cover sensitive areas with filled black rectangles via Edit PDF, then run Compress PDF (high preset) which rasterizes the page and eliminates the underlying text data. Verify by trying to copy from the redacted areas in the output — should return nothing. For absolute compliance with sensitive material, also use a content-removal verifier like the redaction features in Adobe Acrobat Pro.
Can we self-host PDFOnly within agency infrastructure?
Enterprise tier includes a self-hosted option — the entire stack ships as Docker containers (web, worker, MinIO, Redis) that run inside your boundary. Data never leaves your network. Contact sales for pricing.