How to Make a PDF Uneditable (4 Steps)

By Cooper Temple

i David Sacks/Lifesize/Getty Images

PDF documents that are distributed or posted to others may be edited or copied using any one of many PDF writing programs. In order to maintain the integrity of the data in your PDF files and prevent others from copying or altering the original data, use the features available in PDF writing programs to make your file uneditable.

Step 1

Install a PDF writing program with security features to your computer. Most commercially available PDF writing programs cotain these features, but several free versions are available. PDFill (pdfill.com), which is used in the steps that follow, is a free PDF writing program that has features available to make your PDF files un-editable. Other free programs, such as NovaPDF (novapdf.com) and Foxit (foxitsoftware.com), operate in a similar manner.

Step 2

Launch PDFill and open the PDF file that you want to make un-editable. Click the “File” menu and select the “PDFill PDF and Image Writer” option, which will open a separate window.

Step 3

Click the “Security” tab to display a list of available options. Check the “Use these security options” box. Uncheck all of the “Allow” options in the “Security Options” section, for example “Allow Modifying Contents,” to disable any editing. Click the “Create PDF File” button, which will open a separate dialogue window.

Step 4

Click the “Save in” menu to select a folder in which to save the un-editable version of the PDF. Type a name for the file in the “File name” field. Click the “Save” button.

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