Phantom passwords on PDF exports?

Question

This has been happening for years with no solution as of yet.When using either Asset Export or Export for Screens, if I have recently put a password on a (different, no longer open) PDF document, it will apply that password to whatever un-related file I am saving, regardless of what the PDF settings are in the export Format Settings.I don’t even have a way of entering a password in any of these cases and it’s been at least 5 years of fighting this, zero chance that I am accidentally encrypting the export.The industry I work in requires PDFs for 90% of final print files, so using a different format isn’t an option. It tends to delay orders and disrupt workflows as the colleague placing the order will suddenly run into an encrypted document error and be unable to go any further. Appreciate any insight or support on this. Right now my only solutions have been to check every file I save (don’t always have time to do that) or save artboard-by-artboard in the regular save menu and re-name all the files after (tedious, often ends up with file naming mistakes.) Thanks.

Eugene Tyson · Answer

Hello,I found an older report from August 2020 that describes almost exactly what you're experiencing.https://community.adobe.com/questions-652/asset-export-password-bug-776046In that case, saving a password-protected PDF through Save As caused subsequent PDFs exported through Asset Export to inherit the same password, even though no password was specified during export.​@Ton Frederiks, an Adobe Community Expert, was able to reproduce the behaviour at the time.Interestingly, PDF presets don't actually retain password or security settings, so this appears to be Illustrator carrying over the security settings from the previous PDF save rather than an issue with the preset itself.The workaround suggested in that discussion was to save a dummy PDF without password protection before using Asset Export. Not ideal, but it might help until the underlying problem is addressed.Could you confirm which version of Illustrator and operating system you're using?Also, can you reproduce it consistently by saving a password-protected PDF, closing that document, and then exporting an unrelated document through Export for Screens?If so, it would suggest that the original bug is still present several years later.---Can you confirm your version of Illustrator and also what your System settings are (PC/Mac specs)? As this could end up being important at some opint. Thanks.

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