> Anything that is on the Internet can be decoded, hacked, cracked.
It’s not even that. It’s a complete misunderstanding of what PDF’s password feature does and does not do. Password locking in XLSX and PDF files are entirely trust-based, used to discourage accidental editing/casual tampering only. They do not provide any security.
The intractable problem here is that the file’s content cannot be encrypted: the data has to remain fully readable at all times for the file to be viewable. All passwording does is set a “do not copy/edit” flag within that file. Excel and Acrobat voluntarily respect that flag when opening the file, asking the user to enter the password before they will turn it off. Other apps have zero obligation to respect this flag, and it is trivial to write a script to delete that flag from the file so Excel and Acrobat can also edit it without asking for a password.
…
If OP is worried about dishonest customers refusing to pay for the finished vector files since they can unlock and use the approval PDFs, s/he has two options regarding the files themselves:
1. Don’t send vector files for approval. Provide medium-resolution bitmaps only, with a watermark or other indication these preview files are for design approval only. If the customer is a complete hack they’ll probably use those anyway, but any self-respecting client will want the high-quality vector originals. If your market is full of cheapskates, tell customers up front that you will require full payment before sending the final files; you may also want part payment in advance so even if they stiff you later you’re not entirely out of pocket.
2. Send them the high-quality vector files for approval and don’t bother with any password nonsense (all that does is annoy your honest customers). If a customer subsequently refuses to pay you for the work you’ve done, proceed according to the procedure stated in your contract. The first step is sending written notice that payment is now overdue by X days and must be paid in full no later than Y date. Sometimes a customer fails to receive your original invoice (e.g. your email was caught in an over-sensitive spam filter) or makes an honest mistake (e.g. forgetting to pass it onto Accounts Payable). If they fail to respond by Y, you can escalate to your lawyer who will send a legal nastygram, to small claims court, and ultimately passing their delinquent account to a debt collection agency to pursue. Or you may choose to write it off as one-time loss if it’s not worth the time and expense of pursuing them; just one of the costs of doing business. (Either way, if they haven’t paid up by Y, blacklist that customer and never do work for them again. Fool you twice…)
(@OP: You do have written, signed contracts with all your customers, don’t you? If not, the only person to blame here is yourself. Without a signed contract, you have no legal recourse: kick yourself, eat the loss, and never make such a stupid mistake again.)
Beyond that, as others have said, part of your responsibility as freelancer/sole trader/small business is to find yourself good customers and not hesitate to fire the bad ones. There is loads of good business advice out there. It’s up to you to educate yourself so you know what you’re doing and operate professionally, for your own sake and for your customers’ too.
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