Is it possible to redact PDF areas with PDFBox by position?

The Context

Currently, I have a solution where I loop through a PDF and draw black rectangles throughout it.

So I already have a PDRectangle list representing the right areas I need to fill/cover on the pdf, hiding all the texts I want to.

The Problems

Problem number 1: The text underneath the black rectangle is easily copied, searchable, or extracted by other tools.

I solved this by flattening my pdf (converting it into an image so that it becomes a single layer document and the black rectangle can no longer be tricked). Same solution as described here: Disable pdf-text searching with pdfBox

This is not an actual redacting, it's more like a workaround. Which leads me to

Problem number 2:

My final PDF becomes an image document, where I lose all the pdf properties, including searching, copying... also it's a much slower process. I wanted to keep all the pdf properties while the redacted areas are not readable by any means.

What I want to accomplish

That being said, I'd like to know if it is possible and how I could do an actual redacting, blacken out rectangles areas since I already have all the positions I need, with PDFBox, keeping the pdf properties and not allowing the redacted area to be read.

Note: I'm aware of the problems PDFBox had with the old ReplaceText function, but here I have the positions I need to make sure I'd blank precisely the areas I need.

Also, I'm accepting other free library suggestions.

Technical Specification:

PDFBox 2.0.21
Java 11.0.6+10, AdoptOpenJDK
MacOS Catalina 10.15.4, 16gb, x86_64

My Code

This is how I draw the black rectangle:

private void draw(PDPage page, PDRectangle hitPdRectangle) throws IOException {

    PDPageContentStream content = new PDPageContentStream(pdDocument, page,
        PDPageContentStream.AppendMode.APPEND, false, false);
    content.setNonStrokingColor(0f);
    
    content.addRect(hitPdRectangle.getLowerLeftX(), 
        hitPdRectangle.getLowerLeftY()  -0.5f, 
        hitPdRectangle.getUpperRightX() - hitPdRectangle.getLowerLeftX(), 
        hitPdRectangle.getUpperRightY() - hitPdRectangle.getLowerLeftY());
    
    content.fill();
    content.close();
}

This is how I convert it into an Image PDF:

private PDDocument createNewRedactedPdf() throws IOException {
    PDFRenderer pdfRenderer = new PDFRenderer(pdDocument);

    PDDocument redactedDocument = new PDDocument();

    for (int pageIndex = 0; pageIndex < pdDocument.getNumberOfPages(); pageIndex++) {
        BufferedImage image = pdfRenderer.renderImageWithDPI(pageIndex, 200);

        String formatName = "jpg";
        ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
        ImageIO.write(image, formatName, baos);

        byte[] bimg = baos.toByteArray();

        PDPage page = pdDocument.getPage(pageIndex);
        float pageWidth  = page.getMediaBox().getWidth();
        float pageHeight = page.getMediaBox().getHeight();

        PDPage pageDraw = new PDPage(new PDRectangle(pageWidth, pageHeight));
        redactedDocument.addPage(pageDraw);
        String imgSuffixName = pageIndex + "." + formatName;
        PDImageXObject img = PDImageXObject.createFromByteArray(redactedDocument, bimg,
            pdDocument.getDocument().getDocumentID() + imgSuffixName);

        try (PDPageContentStream contentStream
                 = new PDPageContentStream(redactedDocument, pageDraw, PDPageContentStream.AppendMode.OVERWRITE, false)) {

            contentStream.drawImage(img, 0, 0, pageWidth, pageHeight);
        }
    }

    return redactedDocument;
}

Any thoughts?