Supported Formats

SAR Portal supports a wide range of document formats for upload, AI analysis, and redaction — over 28 file types across 6 categories.

Fully Supported Formats

These formats have full support for upload, AI analysis, and visual redaction:

PDF Documents

Best for: Reports, contracts, correspondence, exported records

Microsoft Word

Best for: Letters, policies, contracts, memos, templates

Microsoft Excel

Best for: Data exports, spreadsheets, reports, logs, templates

Images

Best for: Scanned documents, screenshots, photographs, ID verification

Email Files

Best for: Correspondence, DSAR communications, email trails, Outlook exports

Text-Based Formats

These formats support text extraction and text-based redaction. The redacted output is generated as a formatted PDF:

Best for: System exports, configuration files, data dumps, log files, API responses

Complete Format Reference

Format-Specific Considerations

PDF Files

Searchable PDFs (text-based)

• Fastest processing
• Best accuracy
• Text directly extractable

Scanned PDFs (image-based)

• Requires OCR processing
• Accuracy depends on scan quality
• Higher processing time

Tips for best results:

• Use high-resolution scans (300 DPI+)
• Ensure text is legible
• Avoid skewed or rotated pages
• Use contrast for clarity

Word Documents

Compatibility

• Best support for .docx (modern format)
• Template formats (.dotx, .dotm) fully supported
• Macro-enabled formats (.docm, .dotm) supported
• Complex formatting generally preserved

What’s Extracted and Redacted

• Body text
• Headers and footers
• Tables
• Comments and track changes
• Metadata (stripped in redacted output)

Excel Files

Processing

• All worksheets processed
• Cell values extracted
• Formulas preserved in unredacted cells
• Hidden rows/columns included
• Cell comments included

Redaction

• Cell-level redaction
• Original formulas preserved in unredacted cells
• Formatting maintained
• Metadata stripped from output

Images

OCR Processing

• Advanced OCR text extraction
• Multiple languages supported
• Handwriting has limited support
• Quality significantly affects accuracy

Best Practices

• Use high resolution images
• Ensure good lighting and contrast
• Avoid compression artifacts
• Straighten skewed images

Email Files

EML Processing

• Parsed using MIME standard
• Headers (From, To, CC, Subject, Date) extracted
• Plain text and HTML body extracted
• Attachments listed and can be processed separately
• Redacted output rendered as PDF

MSG Processing

• Automatically converted to EML at upload
• All Outlook metadata preserved during conversion
• Processed identically to EML after conversion

Text-Based Formats

Format-Aware Redaction

• JSON: Values redacted while preserving keys and structure
• XML: Element content redacted while preserving tags
• CSV: Cell values redacted while preserving structure
• Other text: Standard find-and-replace redaction

Encoding

• UTF-8 with BOM detection
• Encoding preserved in output

Unsupported Formats

The following formats are not currently supported for redaction:

File Size Limits

Handling Large Files

If a file exceeds limits:

1. Split into smaller sections
2. Compress images (maintain quality)
3. Remove unnecessary content
4. Contact support for special cases

Upload Validation

All uploads are validated:

Security Checks

• Deep file type verification (actual content, not just extension)
• Content type validation
• Size compliance check

Rejection Reasons

“Invalid file type”

• Extension doesn’t match content
• File is corrupted
• Unsupported format

“File too large”

• Exceeds 50 MB limit
• Compress or split the file

Recommendations by Use Case

Access Requests (Article 15)

• PDF for formatted documents
• Excel for data exports
• Images for ID verification
• Email (.eml/.msg) for correspondence

Erasure Requests (Article 17)

• Excel/CSV for structured data identification
• JSON/XML for system data exports
• Email for communication records

Redaction Priority

• PDF for best visual redaction quality
• Word for editable documents
• Excel for tabular data
• Email for correspondence chains
• Text formats for system-generated data