How to put a password on a PDF file's security with PostScript?

[Paco75]

Hi,

I want to know how to put a password on a PDF file's security using PostScript?

thanks

 

[tgreer]

I haven't found a way to do this. The only available vehicle for directly creating PDF structures in your PostScript is with the "pdfmark" operator. Nothing in the PDF documentation refers to password protection.

Adobe has apparently abandoned any attempt to keep pdfmark up-to-date with the PDF spec. Just another example of Adobe's lack-of-interest in addressing the needs of the developer community.

 

[Paco75]

What I really want to do here is prevent the user from modifiying the PDF... maybe there is another way to do so!

Thanks a lot

 

[tgreer]

Acrobat, of course, allows you to do this when you save the document. The save dialog as a settings dropdown list. Choose "normal" and enter your passwords.

 

[Paco75]

Yes but since the PDF is generated trough an appliaction I wish to automate this part... For now the only way I got to do this is to configure Acrobat Distiller to set a password and security to all PDF it will generate.

 

[tgreer]

I think you've found the best way, then. Sorry, there just isn't a PostScript operator or structure to do this, at least not until Adobe updates the pdfmark operator.

 

[Paco75]

Do you know where Distiller stores the security options I set... is it stored in a file like the joboptions?

 

[tgreer]

No, it isn't in the joboptions files, nor do I see anything in the registry. So sorry, I don't know the answer to your question.

Nor is there an API:

http://support.adobe.com/devsup/devsup.nsf/docs/52234.htm

Here's a technique using watched folders:

http://www.pdfzone.com/resources/tips_techniques/101418.html