Scenario
You have a piece of work (probably in a Microsoft Office application) that you want to turn into a PDF. You wish to prevent people from being able to copy and paste the contents of the PDF document.
This procedure assumes you have Adobe Acrobat installed (not just Adobe Reader). If not, double-click the 'Adobe 8 Pro' icon in the PDF folder of WBS-Applications to install now.
Procedure
These instructions use the example of a Word document but the steps are similar for other applications.
- Open the document you wish to convert
- Convert to a PDF by clicking on the
icon
- Once converted the PDF document should open in Adobe Acrobat to allow you to see the results. If it does not then you will need to open it manually by starting Acrobat and choose Open File
- In Acrobat click Document > Security > Restrict Opening and Editing
- Adjust the security settings as required. In particular you can tick/check the box to ‘Require a password to open the document’ although this is not recommended. More common is to tick/check the box for ‘Use a password to restrict printing and editing of the document and its security settings’. Once you check this box you will be able to enter a Permissions password and to decide whether to allow users to print your document or copy text, images and other content.
The example below will allow users to print the document at low resolution but will not allow them to copy the text, images or other content. You should leave the box checked that gives text access for screen reader devices.
- When you click OK you will be warned that there is software available that may still allow users to copy your work. You will also be asked to re-enter the Permissions password and advised to note it down somewhere safe.
- The security options will be enabled when you save the document and close it.
To remove the security settings
- Open the document in Acrobat
- Click File > Document Properties
- Select the Security panel in Document Properties
- Select No Security for the Security Method. You will be asked to enter the Permissions Password
- Click OK to confirm that you wish to remove the security from the document.
If you have any problems or comments about this tip sheet please contact the Helpdesk on 22522 or help@wbs.ac.uk
