How to stop people copying or printing a PDF
Restrict copying, printing and editing of a PDF with a permissions password in PDF by Zaweba, and know what such restrictions can and can't do.
To stop people copying or printing a PDF, give it a permissions password in PDF by Zaweba. Choose Protect, then Protect with a password, set a permissions password, and say what everyone else may do: printing at high quality, low quality or not at all, and whether they may copy, change content, comment, fill in forms or change pages. It's free and works offline on Windows.
People who open the file without the permissions password can read it, but only within the limits you set.
Setting the restrictions
Open the document, choose Protect, then Protect with a password, and tick the permissions password. Type a password you'll keep to yourself. Then go through the permissions.
For printing, none stops printing altogether. Low allows a rough print that is fine for reading but poor for reproducing. High allows normal printing.
For copying, turning it off stops people selecting and copying text and pictures to paste elsewhere.
The other permissions are about changes. You can stop people changing content, adding comments, filling in forms or changing pages. A common setting for a form you send out is to allow filling in but nothing else, so the layout stays as you designed it.
Leave encryption at AES 256-bit, the default, and save.
Do you also need an open password?
A permissions password alone lets anyone open the file. If the contents should be private, add a password to open as well and share it only with the people who should read it. The two passwords do different jobs, and many files need both.
What permissions can and can't do
Permissions are honoured by PDF readers that respect them, which most do. They stop casual copying and printing and make your wishes plain. They're not a vault. Anyone who can see a page can photograph the screen, and some software ignores the restrictions.
So use permissions to discourage and to make reuse awkward, and keep truly confidential material away from people who shouldn't see it. For proof that a file hasn't been changed after you sent it, sign it with a digital ID, or certify it, choosing what may change afterwards.
Before you send it
Check what else the file carries. Protect, Remove hidden information lists document details, attached files, comments, invisible text, content off the page, scripts, earlier versions and more, with counts, so you can remove anything you didn't mean to share. If text in the document must not be seen at all, redact it rather than relying on permissions.
Then open the protected copy yourself and try to copy and print, to confirm the restrictions are on. Protect, Security details lists each permission as the file now stands.
Changing your mind later
If you need to lift the restrictions, open the file, use your permissions password, and choose Protect, Remove security. Keep an unprotected master copy on your own PC so you never depend on remembering the password to edit your own document.
PDF by Zaweba applies all of this locally, without uploading the file anywhere.
