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A
Anonymous
January 17, 2017
Answered

Comparing Secured PDFs

  • January 17, 2017
  • 3 replies
  • 13200 views

Can I secure PDFs from editing and still compare the two in Acrobat Pro DC?

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Karl Heinz Kremer

So is my assumption that this task is not possible accurate?


Yes, not until Adobe changes this. You may want to submit an enhancement request: Feature Request/Bug Report Form

3 replies

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Ali226830424wal
Participant
November 10, 2022

The work around I have found is to drop both secured PDF files into the google drive, and then print to PDF.  This gives you versions that don't have security that you can then compare.  This at least allowed me to get the two documents side by side with the changes highlighted. 

W
Wes the Key
Participant
June 2, 2023

Thank you for the usggestion. I printed to PDF (selected Microsoft Print to PDF in the printer list), and that gave me a PDF that I could compare. 

A
Adobe Employee
adeep93
Adobe Employee
January 20, 2017

Hi,

Greetings! Thanks for you using the new 'Compare Files' feature.

In the latest version of Acrobat DC Pro, behavior of comparing secured documents is as follows:

Due to security reasons, if the Input PDFs have any type of 'Password Security' i.e. having an Open Password or Permissions Password, you will be prompted to enter the respective password. Also, the Compare Report generated from such secured files won't have any Password security applied on it.

Thanks,

Acrobat DC Team.

T
Test Screen Name
Legend
January 20, 2017

Prompting for a password seems correct, if about to make an unprotected report that could contain copies of content.

try67
Community Expert
try67Community Expert
Community Expert
January 17, 2017

Depends what you're not allowing in your security policy... I assume that Content Extraction must be enabled for this to work.

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Anonymous
January 17, 2017

Thank you for you answer.

Im assuming that it is not possible to have both a secure PDF and the ability to compare one PDF to another.

Is there a way to Enable Content Extraction and Prevent Editing to the existing file? I do not mind if content is copied or that the file is printed. Im trying to prevent the existing file from being easily manipulated.

Ive attached a screenshot of my Security Document Properties. Are there preferences that I am overlooking that would make this task possible?

try67
Community Expert
try67Community Expert
Community Expert
January 17, 2017

You need to enable Content Copying. It's a separate check-box in the

Password Security window.

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