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dianne1984652704
dianne1984652704
Participant
July 14, 2017
Answered

How to make images in a PDF non-clickable

  • July 14, 2017
  • 3 replies
  • 25431 views

I have a letter in Word 2010 and have inserted a few .jpg images (logo, signature). When I convert the Word doc to PDF (Adobe X Pro), the PDF is not created as one static page. Instead, I am able to click on an image, right-click and choose Copy. I don't want people to be able to do that. I could print the PDF and then re-scan it to get a static page where the images are not clickable, but the whole point of converting it to PDF is so that I don't have to print it. I don't want to save the PDF letter as a .jpg either...I need it to stay a PDF.  Any ideas?

Correct answer Thom Parker

The one that does not work for Acrobat XI Pro.


Acrobat Pro is an editing tool. It analyzes the content of the PDF (even if it is scanned), and presents the user with all the pieces of the page content as editable bits. That's what it does. The only way to prevent this is to secure the document for editing. A password doesn't do this. It requires a digital certificate. 

A simple way to provide this kind of security is to save the document with Reader Extensions. 

But even then, if a user can see the document, they can extract content with something as simple as taking a picture of it. No content that is visible is ever secure. 

 

 

3 replies

A
Alexis309182365t81
Participant
July 6, 2023

The solution I have found is to print the file as image. To do so go to File/Print and select as Printer, Adobe PDF. Then under Advanced select Print As Image and select 300 or 600 dpi. This way you are creating a new file which is not editable anymore, but other people can still Add Text and Images without being able to edit yours. I do this when I place my signature in a PDF document, but I don't want others to be able to copey my signature and use it elsewhere. Then, the recipients can no longer edit the text, which I don't want to them to do, but they can add text and images, so add their signature and do the same to send it back to me. I hope this helps.

    J
    Jessica2939364786wr
    Participant
    August 9, 2024

    This solution actually helped me a ton, because combining files caused the same initial file to be repeated throughout the new file. This method allowed me to actually combine the individual files into one. Thank you!

    P
    P Fong0D44
    Participant
    August 24, 2020

    I am having the same problem you have.  Did you ever come up with a solution?

      Bernd Alheit
      Community Expert
      Bernd AlheitCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      August 24, 2020

      Read the posted solution.

        B
        Bill2235031926q6
        Participant
        December 21, 2021

        The one that does not work for Acrobat XI Pro.

        try67
        Community Expert
        try67Community Expert
        Community Expert
        July 14, 2017

        Go to File - Properties - Security and apply a password-protected policy that prevents content extraction.

        People will still be able to take screenshots, though, and some PDF viewers don't enforce this restriction, but it's something...

        By the way, this option to copy an image directly doesn't exist (as far as I recall) in the free Reader. You need to have Acrobat to be able to do it.

          dianne1984652704
          dianne1984652704Author
          Participant
          July 14, 2017

          Thanks for the suggestion. I really don't want to have to password-protect the document. I was hoping there was some sort of "flatten" function that would make images be non-clickable.

          try67
          Community Expert
          try67Community Expert
          Community Expert
          July 16, 2017

          Short of exporting the entire page as an image and then re-creating a new file from those images, I don't think it's doable.

          What's wrong with password-protecting the file? The user won't notice it, unless they try to edit it.

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