To what extent can PDF file saving be disabled?

[Under S.]

Hi,

Just completed the first draft of a multi-page InDesign document that I plan to share as PDF to a group of individuals for review via a link (ie, "website.com/folder/file.pdf") on my personal website. No interactivity required, they just need to view the document. But I'm kind of a newbie when it comes to PDF. 

My main question is, to what extent can I also disable FILE SAVE?

At first, I believed that forcing the PDF to open in-browser (only) might be a way to curb local saving, if there was also a way to disable the browser's save functionality. But I've since been told there might be a way to embed this instruction within the PDF file itself (so it won't save even if opened in Acrobat).

Is that really a thing? I have a hard time wrapping my mind around how that would even work. I always assumed that if it was doable, it would be through code (like, through the .htaccess file).

I guess what I'm asking here is... to what extent can PDF file saving be disabled, for a document located on a public online server? Even if it can't be entirely disabled, I bet there's something we can do to curb file saving.

[try67]

Zero. In order to view a PDF file it must first be saved to the local computer, even if only as a temporary file.

[Under S.]

Well, can't ask for much clearer than "zero chance" 😃 Thank you. Does this also apply to the PDF embed API? In other words, even in this scenario, there will be an obvious "Save" or "Save As" option, correct?

Is there then no way at all to discourage saving, even if it doesn't disable it? For instance, forcing it to open in a browser, where people are less inclined to think "save" and more inclined to think "bookmark". Can that be done on the document-side? Or do I need to stick to the Dreamweaver forum for things like this?

I'll be sharing drafts that aren't finished works, so I don't want them spreading further than they need to. I realize anyone can break through anything, I'm just looking to discourage the average non-tech-head.

[radzmar]

Every file you share will be downloaded as a copy to the computer ot the recipients, no matter if its a PDF or TXT or DOCX or whatever. Its just how the sharing of files (over the internet) works. If you don't want that others can have your unfinished PDFs you can invite them to an online meeting where you just share your desktop in a stream. This has the advantage that they can see the PDF but don't get a digital copy of it. 

[Under S.]

I understand how the internet works, and that a tech-head will know to look for temp folders even if the SAVE is disabled. Again, this was more about adding a hurdle, nothing more, to discourage the average civilian from saving a copy if that option is greyed out. If there's no way to grey it out (even if the PDF is opened in-browser) then that settles that. 😃 Curiosity satisfied.

[Test Screen Name]

The PDF embed API does not deliver a PDF, it delivers rendering of the PDF. However, it is in JavaScript, which can be downloaded, and which must show the actual web address where the file is found. This is not the right forum though, we don't know about it here.