Also useful for photos
Want to share an iPhone screenshot, but does it contain sensitive information? Then you have several options: put a bar over it, scratch it out or make the text blurry (blur). Blurring may seem effective, but someone who knows approximately what should be written can often still see details. It is better to put a colored bar over the text, or cut a bar from the image, even if that looks less friendly.
- Why scratching out is less safe
- Annotable
- Skitch
In this article we explain how to make sensitive private data invisible and anonymous on screenshots, but you can also use it if you want to edit a photo of a driver’s license or other document so that your data can no longer be recognized.
Tip for WhatsApp users: this app has a built-in blur tool.
Why scratching out is less safe
Sometimes you want to share a screenshot or photo on social media. But you don’t want others to see private information such as your home address, account name or social security number. In that case, it is better to edit the screenshot first. The necessary drawing tools are standard in iOS, but are not always suitable. It turns out that you can make strikethrough text visible again very easily, as shown below.
With Photoshop and other photo editing tools, you can make the text visible again by adjusting the hue of the image. It may also happen that the gray-black text color does not exactly match the gray-black color of the highlighter, so you can still read the text on some screens.
It is therefore better to choose to blur the text with a blur or block tool. You can find these in all kinds of apps and we discuss some of them below. We initially used Skitch (link), but we gradually switched to Annotable (link), because it offers more options.
A block pattern (left) is often a better solution than blurring (right), because not much can be deduced from the blocks. With blurred text you can sometimes still look through your eyelashes to decipher the text. There are also special tools that can retrieve the original text. There is less that can be made from minimalist blocks. But removing it completely or replacing it with a colored area without text is even better.
If you want to post a photo on social media and make people’s faces unrecognizable, you could work with blur. That’s a bit more sympathetic than a black bar over the eyes. It is also quite common to put a cheerful sticker over the face.
Annotable
If it costs a bit and if you are looking for a lot of functions, then Annotable is the best choice in our opinion. Choose from rectangular blocks or scratch-through blocks with a block pattern. You can adjust the size of the blocks, but also the shape of the blocks. Do you want squares or rounded corners, it’s all possible.
In the screenshot above we have used the smallest possible spheres. Be careful not to use too many fantasy shapes, because people still need to be able to see that there was text. If you want to use all of Annotable’s functions, you will spend several euros, so this tool is especially suitable for professionals who often need these functions. You can try out various functions, but they will contain a watermark.
Skitch
Skitch is a simple tool from Evernote that allows you to easily add blur to a photo. The secret text is converted into gray blocks, so that others can see that something is there, but cannot decipher it. You can further enhance the effect by adding blur several times. This is only intended for information that is not very privacy-sensitive, for example if it is less relevant. For example, you can make a calendar appointment with the hairdresser less readable if you do not want to hear lame comments about it.
You can also provide the sensitive text with colored bars and rectangles, but the options are limited. For example, in Skitch there is only one font and almost everyone chooses the same bright pink color. You will immediately see if a screenshot has been edited with Skitch. If you don’t need to be original, you can of course use this tool. You can also use Skitch to make someone’s face invisible. Skitch is also available for the Mac.
To add blur, press the icon at the bottom right. Choose the block tool and indicate with your finger on the screen which part you want to make invisible. The useful thing is that the area first turns dark gray, so that you can select properly. To be on the safe side, you can use the block tool twice to make sure that the text is more difficult to figure out. Keep in mind that a truly motivated person can often retrieve the information. Sometimes that is not that important, but if you are a well-known Dutch person you may prefer not to have anyone know your home address, telephone number or email address. Then use another tool.
Also read our tip on drawing on iPhone screenshots mentioned below.
There is a special government tool, KopieID, for privacy-friendly editing of photos you take of passports and driving licenses.
