Operation Manual

203
USING ACROBAT X STANDARD
Security
Last updated 10/11/2011
• Filling In Form Fields And Signing Existing Signature Fields Lets users fill in forms and add digital signatures. This
option doesn’t allow them to add comments or create form fields. This option is only available for high (128-bit RC4
or AES) encryption.
• Commenting, Filling In Form Fields, And Signing Existing Signature Fields Lets users add comments and digital
signatures, and fill in forms. This option doesn’t allow users to move page objects or create form fields.
• Page Layout, Filling In Form Fields, And Signing Lets users insert, rotate, or delete pages and create bookmarks or
thumbnail images, fill out forms, and add digital signatures. This option doesn’t allow them to create form fields. This
option is only available for low (40-bit RC4) encryption.
• Any Except Extracting Pages Lets users edit the document, create and fill in form fields, and add comments and
digital signatures.
Enable Copying Of Text, Images, And Other Content Lets users select and copy the contents of a PDF.
Enable Text Access For Screen Reader Devices For The Visually Impaired Lets visually impaired users read the
document with screen readers, but doesn’t allow users to copy or extract the document’s contents. This option is
available only for high (128-bit RC4 or AES) encryption.
Enable Plaintext Metadata Encrypts the contents of a document but still allows search engines access to the document
metadata.
Remove password security
You can remove security from an open PDF if you have the permissions to do so. If the PDF is secured with a server-
based security policy, only the policy author or a server administrator can change it.
1 In the open PDF, do one of the following:
• Select Tools > Protection > Encrypt > Remove. If you don’t see the Protection panel, see the instructions for adding
panels at
“Task panes” on page 8.
• In the Security tab of the Document Properties dialog box, choose No Security from the Security Method menu.
2 Your options vary depending on the type of password security attached to the document:
• If the document only had Document Open password, click OK to remove it from the document.
• If the document had a permissions password, type it in the Enter Password box, and then click OK. Click OK again
to confirm the action.
Securing documents with certificates
Certificate security
Use certificates to encrypt documents and to verify a digital signature. A digital signature assures recipients that the
document came from you. Encryption ensures that only the intended recipient can view the contents. A certificate
stores the public key component of a digital ID. For more information about digital IDs, see
“Digital IDs” on page 215.
When you secure a PDF using a certificate, you specify the recipients and define the file access level for each recipient
or group. For example, you can allow one group to sign and fill forms and another to edit text or remove pages. You
can choose certificates from your list of trusted identities, files on disk, LDAP server, or the Windows certificate store
(Windows only). Always include your certificate in the recipient list so that you can open the document later.
Note: If possible, encrypt documents using certificates from third-party digital IDs. If the certificate is lost or stolen, the
issuing authority can replace it. If a self-signed digital ID is deleted, all PDFs that were encrypted using the certificate from
that ID are inaccessible forever.