> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getlimina.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Processing PDF Files (Enhanced)

> This guide will get you started with pdf deidentification.

Limina supports scanning PDF files for PII and creating de-identified or redacted copies. Limina’s supported entity types function across each file type, with localized variants of different **PII** (Personally Identifiable Information) entities, **PHI** (Protected Health Information) entities, and **PCI** (Payment Card Industry) entities being detected. Our [Supported Languages](/languages) and [Supported Entity Types](/entities) page provides a more detailed look.

<Info>
  If you'd like to try it yourself, please [sign up for an account](https://portal.getlimina.ai/) to get a free API key.
</Info>

## How PDFs Are Processed (Enhanced)

PDFs are processed as follows:

1. First, the PDF pages are scanned for text as well as [Object Entities](/object-entities.md) using OCR.
2. The detected objects are replaced with white boxes, and in-place replacements are done for the text.
3. PDF Metadata as well as any included attachments are removed from the PDF.
4. A new PDF is returned with the in-place replacements and without any attachments.

## Parameters

Below are the parameters that control the behaviour of the PDF De-identifier. These parameters shall be specified under `pdf_options`.

| Parameter                | Explanation                                                                                                                                                                   | Default    |
| ------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------- |
| `approach`               | This parameter changes which PDF approach is used.                                                                                                                            | "standard" |
| `use_inline_replacement` | This parameter sets whether in-line replacements should be made to the PDF. If set to `False`, the container will use the approach selected in `image_options.masking_method` | True       |

<Info>
  [PDF Approaches](/configuration-and-operations/working-with-files/processing-files/pdf-comparison) shows the differences between Standard and Enhanced PDF processing.
</Info>

## Support Matrix

|           | CPU Container | GPU Container | Community API | Professional API |
| --------- | ------------- | ------------- | ------------- | ---------------- |
| Supported | Yes           | Yes           | No            | No               |

## Sample Request

<Info>
  [Connect with one of our privacy experts](https://private-ai.com/en/company/contact-us/?utm_source=docs\&utm_medium=website) to run this code.
</Info>

<CodeGroup>
  ```json Request Body wrap lines highlight={9-11} theme={"theme":"poimandres"}
  {
    "file": {
      "data": "<file_content_base64>",
      "content_type": "application/pdf"
    },
    "entity_detection": {
      "return_entity": true
    },
    "pdf_options": {
      "approach":"enhanced"
    }
  }
  ```

  ```shell curl wrap lines highlight={5} theme={"theme":"poimandres"}
  echo '{
            "file": {"data": "'$(base64 -w 0 sample.pdf)'", 
            "content_type": "application/pdf"}, 
            "entity_detection": {"return_entity": "True"},
            "pdf_options": {"approach": "enhanced"},
        }' \
  | curl --request POST --url 'https://api.getlimina.ai/community/v4/process/files/base64' \
         -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
         -H 'x-api-key: <YOUR KEY HERE>' \
         -d @- \
         | jq -r .processed_file \
         | base64 -d > 'sample.redacted.pdf'
  ```

  ```python python wrap lines highlight={21-23} theme={"theme":"poimandres"}
  import requests
  import base64

  file_url = "https://paidocumentation.blob.core.windows.net/$web/sample.pdf"
  filename_out = "/path/to/output/sample.redacted.pdf"
  file_content = requests.get(file_url).content
  file_content_base64 = base64.b64encode(file_content).decode()

  url = "https://api.getlimina.ai/community/v4/process/files/base64"

  headers = {"Content-Type": "application/json", "x-api-key": "<INSERT API KEY>"}

  payload = {
    "file":{
      "data": file_content_base64,
      "content_type": "application/pdf",
    },
    "entity_detection": {
      "return_entity": True
    },
    "pdf_options": {
      "approach": "enhanced"
    }
  }

  response = requests.post(url, json=payload, headers=headers)
  with open(filename_out, "wb") as f:
      f.write(base64.b64decode(response.json()["processed_file"]))
  ```

  ```python Python Client wrap lines theme={"theme":"poimandres"}
  from privateai_client import PAIClient
  from privateai_client.objects import request_objects
  import base64

  filename_in = "sample.pdf"
  filename_out = "sample.redacted.pdf"

  file_type= "application/pdf"
  client = PAIClient(url="https://api.getlimina.ai/community/v4/", api_key="<YOUR API KEY>")

  with open(filename_in, "rb") as b64_file:
      file_data = base64.b64encode(b64_file.read())
      file_data = file_data.decode("ascii")

  file_obj = request_objects.file_obj(data=file_data, content_type=file_type)
  request_obj = request_objects.file_base64_obj(file=file_obj)
  resp = client.process_files_base64(request_object=request_obj)

  with open(filename_out, 'wb') as redacted_file:
      processed_file = resp.processed_file.encode("ascii")
      processed_file = base64.b64decode(processed_file, validate=True)
      redacted_file.write(processed_file)
  ```
</CodeGroup>

## Sample Response

```json Response wrap lines theme={"theme":"poimandres"}
{
  "processed_file": "Base64 Encoded File Content of the Redacted File",
  "processed_text": "string",
  "entities": "List[Entity]",
  "entities_present": true,
  "languages_detected": {"lang_1": 0.67, "lang_2": 0.74}
}
```