Locking PDFs OUT of Google Docs

Question

A client of mine had an issue with an NDA, should would send a document to get signed and sent back, but we want to make it UN-EDITABLE (some people will try to make revisions and send back, forcing her to have to review every document in excruciating detail).

We can password protect it as a PDF, but one person opened it in Google Docs, where it was essentially converted to a word doc, completely ignoring the permissions. Is there anyway around this?

I even tried outlining all of the text in Adobe Illustrator, but we tested it in Google Docs, and it just ran a recognition trace on the text and recreated all of it. Surely this is a common issue and I'm just missing a small detail?

Test Screen Name · Accepted Answer

This is a common, but impossible, wish. You cannot stop editing. But more, you cannot stop fakes. If you were able to make it hard, someone could make a new document like yours, probably in a few minutes, and sent it. That's why digital signatures were invented: they don't stop editing, but they make it possible to reliably see if the document has changed (or has no signature). Tip: your administrators must be trained to check signatures PROPERLY not just look on the page where it may SAY it was signed.

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded