Quotes and proposals
Keep your pricing and wording from being pasted straight into someone else’s document.
Copy and edit protection
Protect a PDF from copying and editing, honestly
You send a report, a quote or a set of statements, and you would rather the recipient did not copy the text into another document, edit the figures or print copies for everyone. A PDF can carry those restrictions.
PDF Protect Plus applies them on your own computer, together with a password to open the file, and can add a visible “CONFIDENTIAL” watermark. This page also says plainly what these settings do not prevent, so you choose the right protection.
How to restrict copying and editing
Choose the PDF and a password to open it
In PDF protection, pick “Protect / Lock”, drop the PDF, then type a password of at least 12 characters or generate one. The restrictions are applied together with this password.
Untick what you do not want to allow
Open “Document permissions” and untick “Printing”, “Copying content”, “Modifying the document” or “Annotations and forms”.
Save the protected copy
The app saves a new, AES-256 encrypted copy with those restrictions. Your original stays untouched.
Applied on your computer
The document you are trying to keep under control is not sent anywhere to be locked. The PDF is read, restricted and encrypted on your device; your PDFs are never sent to our servers.
Your account and license require an internet connection.
What the restrictions do
Once the recipient has opened the file with the password, PDF readers that follow the PDF standard disable the actions you refused: the copy command, printing, editing tools, or adding notes and filling in forms.
The app also locks these settings with a second, random 48-character password that nobody is given, not even you. Without it, the restrictions cannot simply be switched off in a standard PDF editor.
What they cannot stop
These restrictions depend on the PDF reader: some programs ignore them. And whoever can read a page can always take a screenshot, photograph the screen, or retype the text. No PDF setting prevents that.
So treat them as a clear signal and an obstacle for honest recipients, not as a guarantee. The real protection is the password that controls who can open the file at all.
Add a visible watermark
A “CONFIDENTIAL” watermark, or the recipient’s name, stays on the page on screen, on paper and in screenshots. It does not stop copying, but it reminds everyone that the document must not circulate, and makes a leaked copy easy to recognize.
In Security and marking, choose “Watermark”: set the text, the pages, the position, the size, the angle and the opacity, check the preview, then save a new copy. Protect that copy afterwards.
When restricting copying and editing makes sense
Financial statements
Figures sent for information, not for editing.
Training material and reports
Content you share for reading, with a watermark to identify copies.
Signed documents
A signed version that should not be modified after the fact.
Frequently asked questions
Can I block copying without a password to open the PDF?
Not in PDF Protect Plus: the restrictions are applied together with a password to open the file. A file that anyone can open with no password gives little real control anyway.
Does this stop screenshots?
No. No PDF setting can stop a screenshot or a photo of the screen. A visible watermark makes such copies easy to identify.
Will every PDF reader respect the restrictions?
Readers that follow the PDF standard do. Some programs ignore them, which is why the password to open the file remains the real protection.
Is my original file changed?
No. The app always saves a new copy and leaves your original untouched.
Related reading
Send it for reading, not for copying
A password to open it, the restrictions you choose and a visible watermark, applied on your own computer.
Start your 7-day trialYour account and license require an internet connection.