In order to control permissions to the documents you export to PDF format, you must set the Encrypt property to True. If the Encrypt property is left on its default value of False, permissions and passwords have no effect.
The values you to set in the Permissions property allow users without the OwnerPassword to perform the specified action on the document, and no other action. To combine permission values, enter all of the values you wish to permit separated by commas.
Permission Value | Description |
---|---|
None | Grants users read-only permission on the document unless they decrypt it using the OwnerPassword. |
AllowPrint | Grants users permission to print the document. |
AllowModifyContents | Grants users permission to edit the document. |
AllowCopy | Grants users permission to copy from the document. |
AllowModifyAnnotations | Grants users permission to add or edit annotations on the document. |
AllowFillIn (requires 128 bit encryption*) |
Grants users permission to fill in fields in interactive forms. |
AllowAccessibleReaders
(requires 128 bit encryption*) |
Grants users permission to expose the text in the document to screen readers or other accessible devices. |
AllowAssembly
(requires 128 bit encryption*) |
Grants users permission to insert, rotate, and delete pages and to create bookmarks and thumbnails. |
Default | Grants users permission to perform all of the above actions on the document. |
*Keep the default True value of the Use128Bit property to use 128 bit encryption with full permissions capability. Setting the value to False uses 40 bit encryption which does not support AllowFillin, AllowAccessibleReaders, or AllowAssembly.
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Note: 128 bit encryption is only supported in Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 or higher. Older versions use 40 bit encryption. |
Supply a value in the OwnerPassword property to allow anyone who enters the password in the reader to perform all of the above actions on the document regardless of the specified user permissions. If this value is left empty, no one will be able to perform any actions except those set in the Permissions property.
Supply a value in the UserPassword property to prompt users for a password upon opening the document. If this value is left empty the user will not be prompted for a password, but will be restricted to the actions set in the Permissions property.