Stop people printing or copying a PDF — what the flags can and can’t do

What you are switching off

A PDF carries one more thing beside its pages: a set of permission bits in the encryption dictionary. Each bit answers a yes-or-no question. May this document be printed, copied from, edited, annotated, assembled. Switch a bit off and a reader that honours the bits stops offering the matching command.

Printing is the odd one, with three states rather than two: full quality, low resolution only, or not at all. Copying and editing are plain yes or no. Turning editing off also takes annotations and form filling with it, because on the page those are the same permission.

Print: Full quality, low resolution only, or not at all.
Copy: Whether text and images can be selected and taken out of the file.
Edit: Changes to the content. Off also removes annotation and form filling.

The part that decides whether this is worth doing

The pages themselves are still stored in the clear. Nothing about the content is encrypted. What stops a reader printing your document is that it read a flag and chose not to draw the button.

So the restriction is a request that well behaved software honours, not a wall. A reader that ignores the bits shows and prints everything. Tools that strip the flags back out are free, take seconds, and are one search away.

Treat the flags as a polite label, not a lock. If the document must not be read by the wrong person, a flag won’t stop them. Use an open password instead: that one encrypts the pages, and it’s the only setting on this page that resists anything.

When a flag is still the right tool

Deterring the ordinary case. A draft gets forwarded, a colleague prints twenty copies out of habit. Removing the shortcut is often the whole of the problem.
Satisfying a policy that asks for it. Plenty of internal checklists require the restriction to be present, and setting it takes ten seconds.
Marking a document as not final. A restricted file reads as unfinished to anyone who tries to act on it.
Slowing down casual reuse of a layout or a form, where the value is in the design rather than in secrecy.

Setting the flags here

Drop the PDF in. The file is read into the tab, not sent anywhere.
Choose what to switch off: printing, and whether low resolution stays allowed, then copying and editing.
Set a password. The open password is what protects the file properly; the owner password is what decides who may undo these settings later.
Press the button. The engine loads, the flags are written, and the download starts on its own.

If you actually need to keep people out

Then you want the other half of the tool: the open password. It encrypts the pages, so a reader without the password has nothing to display, print or select. No flag is involved, and no flag can be removed, because there’s nothing sitting in the file to remove.

The two settings combine well. The open password is the lock; the flags are the day to day request. Set both and the file is closed to anyone without the password, and still gently discouraging to the people who have it.

Permission flags: A request that a reader may ignore. Removable by a flag stripping tool, with no password needed.
Open password: Encryption of the content itself. Not removable without the password, by anything, including this site.

What the export reports

The result panel lists what you switched off and in which direction, so the file you’re about to send isn’t a guess.

Printing: Reported as full quality, low resolution, or restricted.
Copying: Reported as allowed or restricted.
Editing: Reported as allowed or restricted, with a note that annotation and forms go with it.
Encryption: AES-256 or AES-128. Not RC4, which is no longer offered here.
Uploads: None. The engine runs inside the tab and the file never leaves the machine.

Straight answers

Can a determined person get around the flags?

Yes, in seconds, with a freely available tool that rewrites the file with the bits cleared. The flags stop an ordinary person using an ordinary reader. They don’t stop anyone who decides to try.

Does blocking copy also block screenshots?

No. Nothing in the file format reaches the screenshot key of the operating system. If the screen can display it, a camera pointed at the screen can capture it.

The file still printed after I restricted it. Why?

Because the reader that printed it ignored the flag. Some readers, and several virtual PDF printers, treat the permission bits as advice. Try a stricter reader if you want to confirm the flag is really in the file.

Should I use this, or an open password?

An open password if the point is keeping people out. Flags if the point is asking nicely while keeping the file easy to open. If you’re unsure which one you need, you need the password.

Stop people printing or copying your PDF

Drop the PDF you want to lock

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