How can i highlight a locked pdf document ?

[pratikd68723934]

How can I highlight a locked pdf document?

[Guest · Accepted solution]

Hi ,

I am sorry but there is no way to highlight a locked PDF until and unless you do not unlock it .

For the security reasons PDF' are locked.You could just view a locked PDF.

You would need to enter a password to unlock a PDF and then only you would be able to perform editing ,be it highlighting the text or something else

Regards

Sukrit Dhingra

[pratikd68723934]

Thank you sukrit.But is there any way to high light after copying the entire document and creating a new document by any different software?l

[~graffiti]

If you create a new document by copy/pasting in to some other software, you "may" be able to highlight. If the file is protected from highlighting, it may also be protected from copy/pasting. So all you can do is give it a try.

[~graffiti]

Also I guess this depends on what you mean by "locked". If it is truly locked as in they have added security to keep you from doing anything then the answer above stands. But if by "locked" you just mean you cannot select text to highlight, it could be that the pdf is a scanned document and just an image of text which cannot be highlighted. You need to run text recognition on it first.

[pratikd68723934]

It is possibly scanned copy of pdf.how to make it in text form?

[~graffiti]

As long as there is no security preventing it, it can be done with either a subscription to ExportPDF or with the full version of Adobe Acrobat.

[nweissma]

I can't understand why someone wants to lock a document - why would someone disallow the highlighting of an abstruse and unknown 1960 mathematics paper? and can i identify the entity that locked it - was it the publisher or the author or the poster or some other player?

[~graffiti]

nweissma  wrote

I can't understand why someone wants to lock a document

Various reasons. You'd have to ask the person that locked it why they did it.

nweissma  wrote

and can i identify the entity that locked it - was it the publisher or the author or the poster or some other player?

Probably not. Could have been the creator or anyone between the creator and you that had the full version of Acrobat.

[Myer's]

Locking the doc is at the discreetion of the owner, understand that. But not highlighting I do not understand. I can highlight any text in any book though all the text in the books is kind a locked.

[NoNoohoh]

Contracts and many financial docs are locked.  They dont want anyone changing the terms after theyve been written in.  This could happen by a mistaken key tap, leading an investor to make the wrong choice afterof accidentally deleting pages 57-320.   Unscrupulous marketers could also sell people on investments that they may have casually manipulated.

[Myer's]

If you would want to read through a contract with many pages for sure you want to be able to mark what you might not like. And even adding notes, as long as it does not alter the document itself.

[charlesl21506480]

How do I unlock a locked PDF when I have the password?

[try67]

Open it in Acrobat and then go to File - Properties - Security and select No Security. You'll be prompted to enter the password.

After doing so save the file, close it and then open it again.

[Myer's]

Ok, understand thats protected. But. If I read a paper version I can also highlight simply with a highlighter pen. That is how people work through documents, protected or not. So maybe we can get a highlighter tool to highlight in protected pdf. Even if it is like a brush tool. This would not mean that we are changing the original document.

[try67]

There's no such thing as a "protected paper", so your analogy doesn't hold water. Digital files can be protected, though, and Adobe applications will respect that. Others might not.

And adding a comment is changing the original document, even if it doesn't look like it, or it's not to your liking.

[Brendon_87]

You can try to convert the file to word and later convert it back to pdf.

[link removed by mod]

That worked for me when the highlight option was blocked. 

[OℓMarcelo]

In Adobe Acrobat Reader DC two workarounds can be used:

1. Use a low opacity rectangle to cover the text:
   • Click on Comment icon to enable the tools.
   • Click on Draw Rectangle tool,
   • Click on Change Color tool, choose the color and set opacity to about 40%,
   • Click on Change Line Thickness tool and set to 0 pt,
   • Draw a rectangle around the text you want to highlight.
     
     

     If you are not satisfied with the color and opacity then right click the rectangle, click Properties and change its appearance.

     This will also highlight over the character itself and the effect is not as good as the real Highlight.
     
     

2. Print the PDF document as Image in a PDF file:
   • Open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader DC and choose Print,
   • In (Windows OS) Print dialog box select the "Microsoft print to PDF" printer option, then click on Advanced,
   • In Advanced Print Setup check the box "Print As Image" and click OK.
   • In the Print dialog box click Print.
     
     The resulting file will be a PDF file not searchable but text highlight will be possible.

[Myer's]

Dear Olmarcelo,

the second, that is the best help for me until now. Thank you.

[Myer's]

Love this answer!

[uccrista]

If you are using Mac, open the file in Preview, highlight to your heart's content and then print or sending it as need it. It will save and the highlighting will be viewable when opened in Acrobat.

[Frederick5FC3]

Hi Adobe,

I've read this thread. Is it possible to introduce a way of annotating a 'Secured' document?

I understand why it is important for documents to be secured. People who create them need to be confident that it isn't possible for someone else to alter them, deliberately or accidentally, in a way which would distort the intended meaning.

But it is also important for people who receive and use those documents to be able to highlight passages. After all, that's why the highlighter (and other) tools are available. As more people turn to using PDFs on-screen rather than printing them out in hardcopy, that becomes more important. I'm a barrister so I often get legal documents which are 'Secured', but I then need to make my own annotations as I go along.

There is clearly a difference between altering a document in a way which could confuse people, and simply highlighting elements of that document. It must be possible to create a set of annotation tools which can be used on a 'Secured' document without the risk of confusion, whether by formatting the highlighting/notes in a particular way or by linking them to my account in the same way that MS Word shows who has edited a document with track changes enabled.

At the moment this is a serious functionality gap in Acrobat. Please could you find a way to sort it out?

Thank you

Freddy Simpson

[Bernd Alheit]

You can allow commenting when you protect a PDF file with Adobe Acrobat:

https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/how-to/password-protect-pdf.html?set=acrobat--fundamentals--secure-p... 

[Dov Isaacs]

@Frederick5FC3 

This is not a serious functionality gap in Acrobat. Acrobat is performing exactly according to the PDF specification, an ISO standard (ISO 32000). Adobe has not controlled the PDF specification since 2008!

Per the posting of @Bernd Alheit, the PDF specification and Acrobat do allow for protecting a PDF file while allowing for annotation. Contact those sending you these PDF files and have them properly protect them allowing annotations!

[Frederick5FC3]

Dear Mr Isaacs,

There is a function (highlighting 'Secured' documents) which is not present. So there is a functionality gap. It is serious because, as I explained, I need to highlight documents for work.

I haven't read ISO 32000 because I am not a software developer, but if it is possible for the creator of a document to permit highlighting then it would seem logical that the recipient of the document would also be so permitted.

It isn't realistic for me to contact the creators of the documents because they often come to me through a number of intermediaries.

I made my comments carefully and in detail because I was hoping you might take them on board with a view to improving your product. As this thread shows, I am not the only person who has had this issue. Telling me that the problem doesn't exist is unhelpful and unprofessional.

Yours

Freddy Simpson