How to Restrict "Save" and "Save As" in PDF

By Tammy Clevenger

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Adobe Acrobat is the application used for creating, modifying, and editing Portable Document Format (PDF) documents. Adobe Acrobat will allow the document creator (or editor) to restrict the "Save" and "Save As" functions, making the PDF a read-only document. This functionality is invoked in the Security section of the Adobe Acrobat interface by setting a password for accessing editing and saving functions. Configuring a PDF document to read-only status using the password function is accomplished with just a few simple steps in Adobe Acrobat.

Step 1

Click the Windows “Start” button and select “All Programs.”

Step 2

Click “File” from the top navigation bar.

Step 3

Select “Document Properties” from the menu.

Step 4

Click the “Security” tab, if not already selected. The Security interface will appear.

Step 5

Select the “Password Security” option from the Security Method drop-down box. The Password Security interface will appear.

Step 6

Check the check box in the Permissions section in front of the “Restrict Editing and Printing of the Document” option. New options will appear. Two drop-down boxes will enable the user to set the document’s editing and printing properties.

Step 7

Type a password in the “Change Permissions Password” input box. A password confirmation box will appear. Retype the password and click “OK.”

Step 8

Click the second drop-down box labeled “Changes Allowed” and select “None.” Other options include: Inserting, deleting and rotating pages; Filling in form fields and signing existing signature fields; Commenting, filling in form fields and signing existing signature fields; and Any except extracting pages.

Step 9

Check the check box labeled “Enable copying of text, images, and other content” if this option is desired.

Step 10

Click the “OK” button.

Step 11

Click the “Close” button to close the Security interface. A notification box will appear indicating that the document must be saved and reopened for the changes to take effect. Click “OK.”

Step 12

Click the “File” option from the top navigation bar.

Step 13

Click “Save” to save the changes to the PDF document.

Step 14

Click the “X” in the top right corner of the document window to close the document.

Step 15

Reopen the PDF document in Adobe Acrobat to verify that a password is required to save, copy, or edit the text.

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