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stylist_sign_w_acrobat_9
Participant
April 25, 2017
Answered

Why can't I adobe pdf print a password protected pdf in acrobat xi? I was able to in acrobat 9.

  • April 25, 2017
  • 1 reply
  • 6939 views

Why can't I adobe pdf print a password protected pdf in acrobat xi?  I was able to in acrobat 9.

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Dov Isaacs

    As far as we at Adobe know, refrying (i.e., distilling PostScript output from a protected PDF file) has been prohibited by design for many years and Acrobat versions.

    If you were able to produce a non-protected PDF file via this mechanism, what value would there be to password protection in PDF at all?  NONE!!!!

    If you want / need a non-protected version of a protected PDF file, you obviously need to remove the protection by providing the password.

    By the way, other Adobe applications similarly restrict you from playing such games. For example, you can't place pages from a protected PDF file into an InDesign document without the password.

    Sorry, this is a necessary feature. Contact the author of the protected PDF file for the password. If the author is willing to let you modify the PDF file, the author will gladly provide the password to remove protections. If they won't provide the password, you obviously now know that they really want the PDF file protected!

    Adobe cannot assist you here!

              - Dov

    1 reply

    S
    stylist_sign_w_acrobat_9Author
    Participant
    April 25, 2017

    This is the error I get:  "This PostScript file was created from an encrypted PDF file.

    Redistilling encrypted PDF is not permitted."  I tried to remove the security but it prompts for me to enter a password which I don't know because it's rom another sender.  All I'm trying to do is adobe pdf print it so it becomes a standard pdf that I can then edit as I please.  So easy to do in Acrobat 9 but not working in acrobat xi?

    Dov Isaacs
    Dov IsaacsCorrect answer
    Legend
    April 26, 2017

    As far as we at Adobe know, refrying (i.e., distilling PostScript output from a protected PDF file) has been prohibited by design for many years and Acrobat versions.

    If you were able to produce a non-protected PDF file via this mechanism, what value would there be to password protection in PDF at all?  NONE!!!!

    If you want / need a non-protected version of a protected PDF file, you obviously need to remove the protection by providing the password.

    By the way, other Adobe applications similarly restrict you from playing such games. For example, you can't place pages from a protected PDF file into an InDesign document without the password.

    Sorry, this is a necessary feature. Contact the author of the protected PDF file for the password. If the author is willing to let you modify the PDF file, the author will gladly provide the password to remove protections. If they won't provide the password, you obviously now know that they really want the PDF file protected!

    Adobe cannot assist you here!

              - Dov

    - Dov Isaacs, former Adobe Principal Scientist (April 30, 1990 - May 30, 2021)
    M
    mchlmichaell
    Participant
    May 15, 2018

    This is an oddly aggressive response from an Adobe staff member - I don't understand how this is warranted.

    Is it possible the original poster is trying to do something without nefarious intentions? I'd say so. I'm building a form that I need to have flattened but that I also need protected from editing by our technicians. I can't use the flatten button without the admins entering the password into each form (needlessly time-consuming); I can't add a Print Form button without the file giving me an error.

    How DOES one password protect a file while retaining some of the functionality that would allow one to combine tens or hundreds of documents into one report?

    I'm sorry, but your answer was rude and unnecessarily aggressive. If you were a random forum user, that's one thing, but as someone on Adobe's staff? I think not.

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