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thomas.coskey
New Participant
April 6, 2021
Question

Print to Microsoft PDF Printer and others removes all document security

  • April 6, 2021
  • 2 replies
  • 937 views

We sell contract documents (PDF documents with Adobe form fields) and have noticed that a user can bypass all security by printing the PDF to certain printers. They can then edit the document as they feel fit and whats concerning they can edit the terms and conditions and clauses whcih we don't want. To test one of these I printed an encrypted document using the Microsoft PDF printer and it did that, it basically recreated the PDF without the form fields but I can edit and change the whole document. I understand that there are some 3rd party programs that can do this but want to find out what is the best solution to keep the document encryption and still allowing the user to print. Or what else can anyone suggest?

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    2 replies

    M
    margueritek
    Inspiring
    April 6, 2021

    A Certification signature will be invalidated or removed if any of the security bypasses are invoked, so you can tell that the form has been modified. It's been a losing battle to convince 3rd party viewers to honor PDF security settings.

    T
    Test Screen Name
    Brainiac
    April 6, 2021

    I suggest you give up on the idea. If your concern is authenticity, look at digital signatures. Otherwise, assume any PDF can be edited. And if it can't, a duplicate can be faked in minutes anyway.

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