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opening restrictions not applied

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2010-07-06 23:50:07
renegades
Registered: Jul 6 2010
Posts: 26

Hm .. interesting ...
I work on a Mac, using latest Acrobat version, but when sending an invoice (obviously the invoice contains fields that have some kind of input) and send it to anyone and anybody that works on Windows (PC) ...

... all my efforts to restrict the pdf from being edited are being thrown out the window. BINGO - I can change whatever I want, even using an old version like Acrobat-6 ...

What's the point of having all the security on Acrobat - 9 Pro if it only works on my own iMac! ???

Oh, and BTW - no - I haven't stuffed up and YES - I could read the help files and Yes I followed all instructions on securing the document from being edited! My question is simply referring to the differences between operating systems and Acrobat versions ... Why all that fuzz about "security" on opening and editing if this only works on your own computer? The moment you send the PDF to someone else' computer - everything is gone!

Yet, even though I can change "Everything" I like in a 3 numbers lower version on a PC, I then cannot apply my "OWN" new document security. The moment I want to add this, I can't safe the document ...

Wait, it get's even better ...

Now I create a PDF on my Mac without restrictions on editing. In fact, I don;t apply ANY restriction at all. I send it to my PC again (again with the same Acrobat -6 and VOILA ... Again, after I edited the fields and want to restrict the document from being edited - I apply the necessary security setting ... BINGO - Now I have a bad parameter and can't safe the document, neither.

YES - I can create a pdf on my PC using Acrobat 6 and add security and I even can safe it!

WOW, I guess there is a whole list of things going wrong in Acrobat which makes me WORRY BIG TIMES and tells me, better write your invoices in Microsoft Word for Windows. You do it once, add security and send it to anyone you want on any OS using any software and unless he/she is a hell of a good hacker, there will be no reason for me to worry that he'she could possibly edit my document - impossible !!!

Thanks

My Product Information:
Acrobat Pro 9.2, Macintosh
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2010-07-07 00:53:27
#1
rbogie
Registered: Apr 28 2008
Posts: 432
convert it to image. one way is to print as image on adobe printer (click advanced button, place tic at 'print as image'). another way is to export to tiff (monochrome at 300 dpi) and then create pdf from the tiff. you may want to experiment.
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2010-07-07 03:34:39
#2
renegades
Registered: Jul 6 2010
Posts: 26
rbogie wrote:
convert it to image. one way is to print as image on adobe printer (click advanced button, place tic at 'print as image'). another way is to export to tiff (monochrome at 300 dpi) and then create pdf from the tiff. you may want to experiment.
Hi rbogie

Well, I don't need a USD 1000 software to make a simple screenshot off my Mac (if I really wanted to send my invoices as an image - I'd prefer doing exactly that, straight off the "pages" and - it would even give me better image quality)

No need to experiment and wasting time on using "Acrobat" for such a cheap solution! ;-)

makes me still wonder, who is still paying ADOBE such high prices for something that displaces all security features? The developers of Adobe products should be charged for that!
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2010-07-07 07:26:25
#3
gkaiseril
Online
Expert
Registered: Feb 23 2006
Posts: 4307
The issue is dumb thieves becoming smarter and finding new was to circumvent the current security methods.

Have you looked at flattening the pages before sending out the form?

Have you looked at using PDF Optimizer or make the PDF a PDF/A PDF?

But this would not prevent some one from OCRing the PDF or image and then editing the OCRed image, or open the PDF in PhotoShop and edit every pixel.

You could also use digital certificates for signing and sending the verification file to the user under a separate cover or use a check sum program to generate a unique check sum for the file that will allow other users to verify the integrity of the file.

If you are trying to encode the file and prevent an unauthorized individual from ever reading it, that can not be done at a reasonable cost. And the biggest risk is at the receiver's end and poor physical security at that end.

Acrobat and Reader were not designed as a security product, but as a information sharing and exchange product and those features require minimal security.

George Kaiser

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