Password security

To restrict access and use of your content, you can secure your PDF file with one of the following types of password:

  • Open passwords: Lock your file so only people with the correct password can open it
  • Permission passwords: Lock particular functionality when a user opens your file. For example, you could stop recipients from copying text from your PDF document or printing it.

Methods to secure a PDF file with password security

There are two ways to secure a PDF file with password security. These procedures are described below.

  • Password Security dialog: View security settings and manually apply security in Document Properties
  • Security profiles: Re-usable security profiles let you save custom security settings, and then apply those settings to a document with one click

To manage password security:

  1. Do one of the following:
  2. If the PDF document already has password security, Nitro Pro prompts you to enter the document password before updating password security
  3. In the Password Security dialog, do any of the following:
  4. Click More. In the Security Level section, specify an encryption Algorithm. 256-bit AES is considered the most secure.
  5. Click OK or Finish
  6. Save your PDF document to apply the new security settings

To apply password security with a specific profile:

  1. To manage security profiles, on the Protect tab, in the Secure Document group, click Manage Profiles. If necessary, create or edit a security profile before proceeding. For more information, see Security profiles.
  2. On the Security tab, in the Secure Document group, click the arrow below Password Security
  3. Select a security profile from the list, and confirm that you want to secure the document
  4. Save your PDF document to apply the new security settings