Once emailed or published online, there is always the concern that your PDF file might fall into the wrong hands. To protect your personal work or as a result of company policy on documents such as company reports or filled application forms, you will need to apply a few PDF security settings and then a simple password.
The level of password protection PDF you use depends on a few settings. By applying PDF restrictions in the form of a password and supplying it to a select few, not only can you choose who is able to open the file, but you can also decide what type of access they have.
How to Create Password Protected PDFs with PDF Converter Elite:
With PDF Converter Elite, you cannot password protect already created PDF document but you can create secure PDF documents. To put a password on your PDF, follow these steps:
- 1Click on the File menu > PDF Creation Options
- 2Click on the Security tab and tick the Secure PDF box.
- 3Set up two different passwords: user and owner.
- 4In the Permissions section, define what permissions you will allow to the document users.
- 5Click OK button.
Additional tip
If you want to save the settings for secure PDF creation, click the Save as default button. Next time you want to use the settings you’ve made, click on the Load from file button and find the saved template. If you change your mind after some time, you can always click on Restore standard button to restore the default settings.
To Set a Password using Adobe Acrobat 11 Pro:
- 1Open your file and go to View > Tools > Protection.
- 2In the Tools Pane, select Encrypt > Encrypt > with Password from the Protection section. Confirm that you want to change the PDF document’s security settings.
- 3In the Password Security dialog, check the box beside Require a Password to Open Document and type in your password.
- Once you choose a password, you can also limit or increase their functions by setting other PDF security settings. You can, for example, restrict options such as printing or editing.
To Password Protect your PDF Content
- 1In the Permissions section of the same window, check the box beside Restrict Editing and Printing of the Document.
- Choose the type of printing allowed.
- Select the types of Changes Allowed.
- Decide whether or not to enable content copying.
- Decide whether or not you would like to enable text access for screen reader devices.
- You can allow others to change the permissions of the file by entering a password.
- 2In the last Options section, select the PDF’s compatibility level and choose from the encryption options provided.
- 3Click on OK to activate your PDF restrictions.
