Allowing Users to Save Entered Form Data in a .PDF

1. Once you are done editing the form, you need to save the .PDF file in a particular way to allow people to save their entered form data.

2.  Go to File -> Save As -> Reader-Extended PDF -> Enable Additional Features

If for some reason “Enable Additional Features…” is greyed out, make sure that you are not still in the form editing mode.  Under the tasks panel (usually in the right-hand column) click the “Close Form Editing” button and it should solve your problem.

eBook theft and intellectual property piracy is on the rise. It’s a lucrative activity that is nearly impossible to prosecute and thus provides ample motivation for an eBook thief. If you’re selling an eBook online, you need to be aware of how you can be ripped off — but also how you can protect yourself and your business.

Lets define an E-book thief as:
1) Someone who plagiarizes your work and/or resells your product to collect money from customers who believe they are buying from you.
2) A competitor who wishes to undermine your business and anonymously posts your product on a file sharing site where it can be downloaded freely.
3) A customer who buys your ebook with a stolen credit card resulting in a credit card charge back.
4) A customer who buys your ebook with the intention to ‘return’ it after making a copy.

If you are considering a protection solution for your eBook or sensitive documents, make sure it meets the following 5 requirements.  And if not, KEEP LOOKING.  A comprehensive ebook protection solution…
1.MUST prevent file access for unauthorized individuals, password sharing and illegal file distribution.
2.MUST prevent unauthorized copying reproduction of your PDF documents.
3.MUST prevent uncontrolled printing and redistilling of PDF documents.
4.MUST prevent access from refunded or fraudulent users.
5.MUST allow easy set-up and use, so as not be a hassle for your customers.

(For more details on these 5 requirements, see http://file-secure.com/real_protection.php)

Putting a watermark on a document is a great idea. BUT unfortunately on its own, this provides virtually no protection. Here’s why. Do you have the time to monitor the hundreds of file sharing sites like Pirate Bay to find your ebook ‘in the wild’? And once you find it, what do you do next? It’s nearly impossible to get a file sharing site to remove copyrighted material. And it’s probably a moot point anyway. Your intellectual property may have already been downloaded thousands of times and in the hands of your competitors or other thieves. You can’t un-ring that bell. And in the unlikely scenario that you can actually discover who the thief is, how do you go after them? What if they live in another country? You will need to hire a lawyer in that country to pursue it further. This adds up to a major waste of time, energy and money.

The takeaway is this: PREVENTION is the only real solution.

File Secure Pro (www.protectyourfile.com) was created to prevent this scenario from happening. Our customers are commercial ebook sellers, corporations, Internet marketers, private newsletter publishers, writers, lawyers, accountants, and health care providers who are required to be HIPAA compliant.\

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John Abadi has over over 20 years in the software development industry and since 2001 has been active in the development and management of web based businesses. File Secure Pro which was founded in 2001 by Anthony Ellis after he suffered years of document theft and copyright infringement. To combat this, the File Secure Pro system was developed, allowing authors to securely distribute, monitor and control usage of their intellectual property. In 2005 File Secure Pro was made available as a commercial service and has been serving customers in the corporate, legal, distance learning and other industries needing intellectual property theft protection.
Please visit http://www.protectyourfile.com to learn how you can start protecting your information today.

1. Open the secured document on which you wish to change the security settings.

2. Head to the Advanced menu option, and in the Security option, select ”Remove Security”.  You will be prompted to enter the password that you used to initially setup the security but after that your security settings will be removed.

1.  First open the .PDF file in Acrobat Standard.  Then head to the Export Drop-Down and select Word Document.  

Because Acrobat will use the same name for the Word file as it has for the .PDF file, I like to add a “-w” suffix or some other identifier so that later on you can tell the difference between the two files. If the original file is “myfile.pdf”, you could make the Word document “myfile-w.doc”

1. Open HP Protect Tools Security Manager from the Start Menu (Vista is shown here).

2.  Then head to the left side of the screen (the left menu) and select Settings.

3. In the menu that appears on the right side, select the Single Sign On tab, and then uncheck the Enable automatic detection of logon dialogs and web pages.

That should now make the pesky Credential Manager box stop popping up.

Because .PDF files are so lightweight, flexible, easy to send via email and therefore easy for everyone to read, it is sometimes important that a password is added to a .PDF file in order to provide some level of basic security on the document.

In order to add a password to a .PDF file, you must have a copy of Adobe Acrobat Standard or Professional . When I use the term “Acrobat” in the instructions below, I am referring to either Acrobat Standard or Acrobat Professional. Recall that Acrobat Reader is the free version of Adobe Acrobat, and is only for reading .PDF files. For a list of differences among the versions of Adobe Acrobat (Reader, Standard, Professional) see this post.

Note that while this tutorial only covers Adobe Acrobat Standard and rofessional, there are some third-party (e.g. non-Adobe) applications that can manipulate .PDF files. For a video tutorial about how to create .PDF files for free, see this video post.

1. Open the .PDF file in Acrobat. Under the Advanced menu bar heading select Security, and then Password Encrypt

2. You may then be prompted to acknowledge that you are changing the security settings on the document. This warning is so you don’t accidentally lock yourself out of a document. Go ahead and press Yes. Fee free to check the “Do not show this message again” box if you don’t want to be reminded each time you secure a document.

3. You will then be presented with the Password Security dialogue box. In the image below you will see the “Require a password to open the document” checkbox highlighted in red (the other colored boxes are for the additional security settings of restricting printing and editing of the document – please see this post for more information about these security settings).

4. Click this box and enter a password. You will then see a warning about third-party applications. This warning is Adobe’s way of saying that while all Adobe products support the password settings you have just made, Adobe cannot guarantee that ALL programs that can read .PDF files will honor your security settings. Click OK and once again feel free to click the Do not show this message again check box. Note that you may be prompted to re-enter the password you just selected to verify that the password is correct.

5. Click OK at the bottom of the Password Securitydialogue box. You will get a final prompt explaining that these settings will not be applied until you save the document again.

6. Go ahead and save the document. You should now see the words SECURED next to the file name in the title bar.

Your .PDF file is now password-protected.

Adobe Acrobat Reader – the Adobe Acrobat reader, often also called “Acrobat Reader” is a free program that allows you to open, or view, .PDF files. You can also print .PDF files from this free version.  Acrobat reader does not allow you to edit .PDF documents, and does not allow you to create .PDF documents.

Adobe Acrobat Standard – this software is not free, and it allows you to perform a multitude of tasks with .PDF files including creating .PDF files, editing .PDF files, and applying security such as password-protection and printing/editing restrictions to created files.  Acrobat standard will also add a button that will allow you to quickly create .PDF files from Microsoft Office, and allow you to merge multiple files into a package of individual .PDF files, or a single unified .PDF files.

Adobe Acrobat Professional/Professional Extended – these two versions add enterprise features to the existing feature set of Adobe Acrobat Standard, such as video features and the use of Adobe Live Cycle to create forms.

For most users who wish to create .PDF files and perform basic .PDF-file maintenance, Adobe Acrobat Standard is an appropriate choice.

The full list of feature comparisons for the Acrobat Software family is located on Adobe’s Web Site.

While Adobe Acrobat Standard is a great piece of software, it is expensive at around $200+ . Sometimes Acrobat Standard will come as packaged software with hardware such as higher-end scanners. For those of you who aren’t ready to make the leap to Acrobat Standard, but still want to create .PDF files, please see my post about creating .PDF files for free.