Is there a package and command that can secure rendered pdf with a password?
asked Jul 27, 2011 at 9:33
2 Answers
There used to be a package achieving PDF encryption, but it relied on obsolete pdfTeX patches: pdfcrypt
Nowadays, you need an external tool to encrypt your PDF. Here is an example to encrypt a PDF with pdftk:
pdftk inputfile.pdf output outputfile.pdf encrypt_128bit owner_pw yourownerpw user_pw youruserpw
That said, I guess a LaTeX package could be done to make use of pdftk at compile time.
Just please remember that no PDF encryption is really bullet-proof. Once the user can see the PDF, then he can print it and edit it. It can just require the use of other tools than the Adobe thingies.
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4Note that it is really recommended to use 128bit encryption (as shown here). The "normal" 40bit encryption is do to US export restrictions and is not very safe (3 days of computation power of a normal PC, I heard a ca. 8 years ago, should be done to .5 day by now). Jul 27, 2011 at 9:46
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5Yes, although in some countries it is illegal to use high-level encryption altogether. Here in France, I believe you have to give a copy of the private key to the police when you do so (although when you go to the police with your fingerprint, they think you're totally crazy to tell the truth ;-))– raphinkJul 27, 2011 at 9:50
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It looks like you need the commercial version for $3,99 to add a password? Jan 16, 2014 at 10:11
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@doncherry: Just tested it with Debian's
pdftkpackage. It works great. I'm guessing you need the Pro version if you want to use the GUI for that maybe.– raphinkJan 16, 2014 at 20:26
In the case of pdfTeX, an external tool, such as pdftk or qpdf, is necessary to encrypt.
In the case of XeTeX, we can use a \special supported by xdvipdfmx,
for example:
\special{pdf:encrypt ownerpw (abc) userpw (xyz) length 128 perm 2052}
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
This is a test.
\end{document}
answered Apr 6, 2015 at 13:36
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This is awesome, solved my problem in the easiest way. (was using ShareLatex.com which has a XeLaTeX engine)– Paul HJan 5, 2016 at 19:48
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1@bonanza: You may find useful data in
texmf-dist/dvipdfmx/dvipdfmx.cfg. Apr 27, 2016 at 23:44 -
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pdftexa while ago and I don't thinkxetexhas it as well. You need to use an external tool on the compiled PDF afterwards to add this.pdftkor Adobe Acrobat (full version, not just the Reader).