About Justin VanAlstyne Expertise I have a full working knowledge of Adobe Acrobat 5.0 - 7.01. I have experience in creating interactive PDFs, embedding multimedia, web-based forms, creating presentations using PDF, advanced prepress preparation, PDF web optimization, color management, and using PDF as a soft-proofing tool. I do not have a lot of experience using Acrobat`s advanced Javascripting features, though a lot of custom functionality can be built into a PDF this way.
Experience
Past/Present clients Marsh, Inc. (http://www.marsh.com), Impel Corp (http://www.impelcorp.com), Home Properties (http://www.homeproperties.com)
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Followup To
Question -
Hello Justin. Many thanks for the assistance.
I have a password protected document which prohibits editing.
If somebody has another Adobe product that can write, then they must input the password in order to edit? Correct.
To secure the document, security, password...and restricted editing. Will this password be reflected on other adobe products that can write?
Thank You
A.J.
Answer -
Hey A.J.,
A password protected PDF file could be edited using the full-version of Acrobat depending on what the PDF file's security settings are.
When creating a PDF, or when securing it, you have a number of options that let you choose exactly what is allowed, or is not allowed, without a proper password. For example, you can set it so that the PDF can only be opened with a password, or it could be set so that the PDF cannot be edited or changed but read. All of these options can only be changed or set using the full version of Acrobat. Acrobat Reader will not let you mess with the security settings of a PDF (either to set it or unlock it).
Things get a bit more complicated depending upon what level of compatibility/security you desire. When securing a PDF, you have the option of choosing which password encryption scheme Acrobat should use. Choosing the most recent version (Version 6) will give you the highest level of encryption (tougher for an unauthorized viewer to crack), but it cannot be opened by older versions of Acrobat (5, 4, etc.).
The best way to totally secure a document is to use the Digital Signature and Certification tools in Acrobat 6 Pro. This allows you to complete encrypt a document and disallow any changes to it. A similar effect is achieved with the password method above, except this is more secure. There is no password to be cracked, just a secure digital signature.
Most respectable 3rd party PDF viewers will uphold the password-restricted rights of a PDF. However, you should be aware that there are "hacker" tools that will allow an unauthorized user to bypass the security settings in the PDF (unless you used the digital signature with 2048-bit encryption).
No other Adobe applications, besides Acrobat, can edit and re-save a PDF file. Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign all open PDFs, and all enforce passworded security options to an extent.
I hope this helps. Write back if you have any other questions.
- Justin
Thanks for the help, Justin.
I actually set the document with a password in order to edit it. We have adobe acrobat standard 6.0.
I'm not very familiar with adobe products.....What I am asking is whether or not, now that I've set up this password, will somebody who has adobe writer (or whatever its called) need to input a password to be able to make modifications? Ideally, thats what we'd like.
thanks for the help. Best,
A.J.
Answer Hey A.J.-
If you have set the PDF security options (under Document Properties...) to disallow any changes changes you should be good to go. What you set the Compatilibility version to will depend on who can open it (depends on their version of Acrobat) and what level of security you desire (the higher the version the better).
When someone else wishes to edit your PDF, they will need the full-version of Acrobat (Pro or Standard) and will be able to read the document. To edit it, they will have to go to the Document Properties window, and turn off the security settings for that file. This will prompt the user for the document password. With the correct password, the document will unlock. If the user saves the file, it will save now without any security. To get security back on, the user will do their editing, then go back to the Document Properties window and turn the security settings back on, and put in the password, and then save the document.
Without the password, the user will not be able to edit the PDF, but can view it (depending upon your initial security settings).
Did that that help?
Glad to be of service,
- Justin
AJ - A follow-up to your latest question...not sure if you will see it here, the website won't let me add an official response. If you set the password so that no one can edit the PDF, then users will be able to open it and view the document, but won't be able to delete pages, replace pages, change the text, etc. without the password. Acrobat is the only Adobe product that can edit existing PDF files. Programs like Photoshop and InDesign can open PDF files (and won't prompt for a password unless the document is set to only open with a password authorization) as graphics, they just can't save out the PDF or edit it in a normal fashion.
Email me at junk2@jmvdigital.com if you have any further questions.
