Remove Blank Pages takes the blank pages out of PDF documents - most often the blank backs of a two-sided scan. Each page is checked for marks that are darker than the paper, so faint show-through from the other side of the sheet, light specks of dust and scanner noise do not keep a page. The band near the edge of the sheet, where punch holes, edge shadows and page numbers sit, is not checked at all.


The action works on PDF documents only. Other documents are skipped, so convert them first with the Convert Document to PDF action.

The action's settings are organized into tabs.


Document

Active Document checks the document routed with the workflow, when there is one.

Found Documents chooses whether the action checks only the first document matching Find Documents or every matching document. When Active Document is on, the found documents are only used when no document was routed.

Find Documents picks the documents to check by Category, Sub Category and Name. Leave a box empty to match any value.

Pages to Check limits the check to certain pages, for example 2-6 or 1,3,5. Leave it empty to check every page. Pages outside the list are always kept.

Replace Documents saves the result over the original document, which keeps its Category, Sub Category and Name. The original is kept as a document revision when it is under 10 MB. Turn it off to save the result as a new document and leave the original untouched.

Save Documents appears when Replace Documents is off. It sets the Category, Sub Category and Name of the new document. Leave a box empty to use the original's value.

Document Note adds a note to the document listing the pages removed.


Detection

Blank Page Sensitivity sets how strict the check is:

  • Strict removes only pages with no marks at all.
  • Normal also removes pages whose only marks are specks smaller than about 2 mm. This is the recommended setting.
  • Custom lets you set the size of mark to ignore in Ignore Marks Smaller Than, in inches. For comparison, a short handwritten signature measures about 0.3 inches.

Ignore Page Edges is the band around the edge of the sheet, in inches, that is not checked. The default of 0.75 inches keeps punch holes and edge shadows from holding on to a blank page. Anything printed inside the band does not count either, so a page whose only mark is a page number near the edge is removed.


AI Review

The AI Review tab appears when your system has AI. With AI Review on, the pages that are hard to judge - a few marks but very little ink - are sent to AI, which can tell show-through, punch holes and specks apart from real content. A page is removed only when the AI says it is blank; a page the AI is unsure about is kept. AI Review is not used with Strict sensitivity.

Quality sets the AI level. Balanced suits most scans; Maximum costs more and is best for poor scans.


Extra Instructions give the AI guidance for your documents, for example "Treat pages that only say This page intentionally left blank as blank".


When the AI checks at least one page, three values are added to the Record: [AIBlankPages_Reviewed] is the number of pages the AI checked, [AIBlankPages_Blank] is how many of them it found blank, and [AIBlankPages_Summary] lists the pages for each document, for example "Scan.pdf: AI reviewed pages 3, 5; blank: 3". They are cleared each time the action runs with AI Review on, so they only ever describe the latest run.


Good to know

  • A page with annotations is never removed.
  • Password-protected PDFs are skipped, and so are digitally signed PDFs, since removing pages would break the signature.
  • If every page of a document is blank, the document is left unchanged.
  • The text and annotations of the kept pages move with them to their new page numbers.
  • The number of pages removed is available to the actions that follow as [BlankPagesRemoved], for example to route a Record for a person to check whenever pages were removed.


NOTE ON (AI): AI Review consumes tokens and may incur extra fees. Automation tokens are billed separately from End User or Configuration tokens - check with your sales rep for more information. Please verify all results, as AI can make mistakes.