Since you are replcing, I would just cut them off. You're going to want fresh, square beveled/mitre cuts anyway and will need to "fit" joints over the posts.

Thanks fnmroberts, I'm sure that made sense to you.

But can anybody tell me how to remove these markings that the manufacturers put on the wood?

Thanks.

{{!gwi}}

Sorry, I was imagining you had embossed or wood-burned indentations.

Those look like stencels. Have you tried washing them? Otherwise, try a random orbital sander using a fine paper. They should come off.

Sand 'em off.

By sanding them off, you're going to have to sand the whole shebang or the sanded spots removing the stamps area only will stick out like a sore thumb when you finish. Good idea to sand 'em all down anyhow. Your blue chalk lines wont necessarily bleed through like with red chalk, but it would be a good idea to get rid of those as well.

Personally I'd leave it and over time it will fade out. Thats what I'm doing