How it works
- 01Open the PDF.
- 02Set a password to open the file, a password to change permissions, or both.
- 03Choose what recipients may do: print, copy text, edit, comment.
- 04Export the encrypted document.
Two passwords, two different jobs
The open password controls who can read the document at all. The permissions password controls who can lift the restrictions. Setting only the second lets anyone open the file while still restricting what they can do with it.
Restrictions without a password are advisory
If you set no password at all, the permission flags are a request that most readers honour and some ignore. The tool says so as you set them, rather than letting you believe the document is protected when it is not.
Screen readers always keep access
Denying accessibility extraction locks a document away from the people who most need it, and it is easy to switch off by accident while restricting copying. This tool never does it.
Questions
- How strong is the encryption?
- AES-256, the strongest the PDF specification defines. Your password is the weak point, not the cipher — a short one can be attacked offline by anyone holding the file.
- Can you recover the password if I forget it?
- No, and neither can anyone else. We never receive the password or the file, so there is nothing to recover from.
- Does restricting printing actually stop printing?
- It is enforced by the reader, not by mathematics. Compliant readers honour it; a determined recipient can bypass it. Encryption with an open password is the part that genuinely restricts access.