Hi, I'm new here and here goes my 1st post! :)
I understand that there are ways where developer can prevent the PDF "Save a copy" & "Print" button from displaying on a web browser but this method are not 100% fool proof since users could still access the pdf file throught their window cache folder.
What I am trying to achieve here is preventing PDF redistribution and printing. I believed that Adobe Content Server is the a perfect solution but is Adobe still continuing with this product? I read from other forums that Adobe had ceased support for this product in 2007.
Another great concern I have is cost issue, AC is very very expensive. Is there other alternative for implementating something that can achieve my desired purpose without having to use AC?
Thanks!
Without using DRM (i.e. Co4) there's no possible way to restrict use of a PDF - but even WITH it you cannot control printing on a per-printout basis - users either can or cannot print, there's no concept of "only once". You also cannot stop the PDF being copied, only prevent users from opening those copies. It's a subtle difference but an important one for some copyright licenses.
..and yes, Co is expensive - but it's a massively complex bit of software under the hood, and to put it bluntly, Adobe don't sell many of them so they have to get their R&D money back somehow. If you're only protecting a couple of documents there are service companies who rent Co server space on a per-PDF basis.