How Can I Protect PDF From Copying?

We prefer to share files in PDF format since they always keep the same layout no matter what device we used to view them. However, copying the content in a PDF file or printing the whole file is also a piece of cake. The reproducibility of PDFs poses a threat to many content creators. Therefore, you must put some restrictions on your PDFs especially when you decide to share well-written study materials to others or send your final draft of a novel to the publisher, which can protect your creative content from plagiarism.

 

How to prevent your PDF documents from copying or editing? PDF Reader Pro can give you a perfect solution. With this PDF tool, those who want to edit and copy your PDFs are not allowed to copy the content, print the file, and even change the data in a fillable form. Here we provide you with several ways to lock your files from copying or modifying. Firstly, you can download PDF Reader Pro.

 

• Protect PDFs From Copying with Powerful Password
• Convert PDF to Image to Prevent Editing
• Flatten a PDF to Protect Annotations

 

Protect PDFs From Copying with Powerful Password

The most effective method to lock files from copying and printing is by setting a password to restrict the permission. PDF Reader Pro allows you to set two different passwords for your PDFs. One is the Open Password, which requires a password to open and view the document. The other is Owner Password, which means you should enter a password to access the permission on printing and copying. How to encrypt PDFs with PDF Reader Pro? 

1. Click Edit on the toolbar;

2. Choose Security.

3. Tick Require a password to open the document or Restrict printing and copying of the document. (or both of them)

4. Enter password in the box and then tap Encrypt.

 

 

Note: Once you set an owner password, no one can copy the text as well as printing  PDFs.

Convert PDF to Image to Prevent Editing

Converting PDFs to images is another ideal way when there are a few pages in a PDF,  which can definitely protect all the content from editing since pictures are un-editable.

PDF Reader Pro helps you fast convert a PDF to a high quality image, just follow the steps below.

1. Click Converter on the toolbar;

2. Choose to Image.

 

 

What’s more, we highly recommend you to add a watermark to your file, otherwise the text in the image can be extracted by OCR tool easily. To add a watermark, you can do the followings:

1. Click Editor on the toolbar;

2. Tap Watermark -> Add Watermark;

3. Choose text watermark or image watermark from file.

Notes: 

Tile: Tick Tile to tile watermark within the page.

Page Range: You can customize the page range to insert a watermark or choose regular page.

 

Flatten a PDF to Protect Data from Changing

What is a flattened PDF? A flattened PDF means all the interactive elements are no longer fillable such as the Check Box, Radio Button, List Box, etc. On normal occasions, a fillable form allows the recipient to fill the text field and tick the options. However, what if you want to share such a PDF without the recipient being able to change the data? The best way is to flatten PDFs.

 

In addition, flattening a PDF can lock the annotations so that no one can delete or export your comments. How to flatten your PDF with PDF Reader Pro? 

1. Click File on the toolbar;

2. Select Save as Flattened PDF.

 

 

It is a pretty easy way to save a flattened PDF, right? When your PDF contains lots of important data in the fillable form, we recommend you to save your file as a flatten PDF.

 

Bottom Line

We have to note that people with less than friendly intentions can get a copy of the content creation with no effort, so it is important to protect your files when sharing with others. You can choose different ways to protect your PDFs as needed, such as setting a password, adding watermarks, converting it to an image, etc. Besides the functions we mentioned above, PDF Reader Pro also helps you to permanently cover the private information with redaction tool. Click here to know more advanced features. 

 

Click Download to get a 7-day free trial.