Comments on: How to Password Protect a .PDF File with Adobe Acrobat Standard or Adobe Acrobat Professional http://helpspa.com/other/how-to-password-protect-a-pdf-file-with-adobe-acrobat-standard-or-adobe-acrobat-professional/ Computer Advice, Help. and Video Tutorials Wed, 09 May 2012 20:43:07 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: David W http://helpspa.com/other/how-to-password-protect-a-pdf-file-with-adobe-acrobat-standard-or-adobe-acrobat-professional/comment-page-1/#comment-1966 David W Mon, 18 Jul 2011 22:29:02 +0000 http://helpspa.com/?p=172#comment-1966 Well yes and no. Passwording a PDF file is not meaningless -- it really depends on your goals. If you are sending a document to a client that you don't want altered or printed, for example, then setting a password is a good idea. I agree that it's not foolproof -- there are 3rd party programs that don't always respect these passwords -- but for basic functionality I believe it's effective. It's clear that a determined person can get to your information, and the effort it takes to use screen capture software to copy a PDF -- at least in my opinion -- is prohibitive for a long work. But yes -- if you are writing a book and you protect it with a password, there is little (other than honor) that prevents people from distributing the password for your work-- and acrobat at this time does not support complex algorithms that would make different passwords for different purchasers. There are services out there, such as e-junkie, that allow you to provide a custom watermark on your PDF so that each time someone purchases your work, they PDF is watermarked wit their name. At least in this manner if the work gets distributed when it shouldn't, you can track down the person who did it. Well yes and no. Passwording a PDF file is not meaningless — it really depends on your goals. If you are sending a document to a client that you don’t want altered or printed, for example, then setting a password is a good idea. I agree that it’s not foolproof — there are 3rd party programs that don’t always respect these passwords — but for basic functionality I believe it’s effective. It’s clear that a determined person can get to your information, and the effort it takes to use screen capture software to copy a PDF — at least in my opinion — is prohibitive for a long work.

But yes — if you are writing a book and you protect it with a password, there is little (other than honor) that prevents people from distributing the password for your work– and acrobat at this time does not support complex algorithms that would make different passwords for different purchasers. There are services out there, such as e-junkie, that allow you to provide a custom watermark on your PDF so that each time someone purchases your work, they PDF is watermarked wit their name. At least in this manner if the work gets distributed when it shouldn’t, you can track down the person who did it.

]]> By: JABADI - File Secure Pro Admin http://helpspa.com/other/how-to-password-protect-a-pdf-file-with-adobe-acrobat-standard-or-adobe-acrobat-professional/comment-page-1/#comment-1963 JABADI - File Secure Pro Admin Mon, 18 Jul 2011 17:09:49 +0000 http://helpspa.com/?p=172#comment-1963 Putting an Acrobat password on a PDF file is, unfortunately, meaningless since the file and password can still be shared freely. The Acrobat copy/paste protection does not protect against common screen capture/sharing utilities which are available for free everywhere on the Internet. This makes it very easy for your PDF document to be accessed by unauthorized users. To properly protect a PDF, the author must protect it using a anti-piracy service like File Secure Pro. Putting an Acrobat password on a PDF file is, unfortunately, meaningless since the file and password can still be shared freely. The Acrobat copy/paste protection does not protect against common screen capture/sharing utilities which are available for free everywhere on the Internet. This makes it very easy for your PDF document to be accessed by unauthorized users.

To properly protect a PDF, the author must protect it using a anti-piracy service like File Secure Pro.

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