In this digital age, papers that used to be filled out offline can now be moved online. But because more people use the internet, the chance that information will get out has increased. Sometimes, someone must send a PDF with a lot of private and secret information, like a person's address, telephone number, bank account information, or tax information.
You don't require hackers to be able to use this kind of information to do bad things. Sometimes, though, things just go badly and get out of hand. PDF encryption is a good thing because it can be used. Your PDF files are safe when they are encrypted.
How to Use Desktop PDF Programmes to Encrypt PDF Files
SwifDoo PDF is a good choice for encrypting and decrypting files. Here's how Windows users can use SwifDoo to add a password to open their PDF files:
● Step 1: Open the File in SwifDoo PDF and hit Advanced-Encryption;
● Step 2: Decide what kind of password you'd like to use for your document: unlocking password or password to get permission;
● Step 3: Set a password for yourself;
● Step 4: To save the changes, click "Yes."
How to Encrypt Pdf on a Mac
Good luck to Mac users who have Preview as a built-in PDF lock. This natural PDF reader can help you change and protect PDFs with a password. Here's how to protect your PDFs on a Mac with Preview:
● Step 1: Open a PDF file in Preview.
● Step 2: Click File and choose Export from the drop-down menu.
● Step 3: On the Export Page, click the Encrypt button.
● Step 4: When prompted, enter your password and click Save.
You can also provide the PDF with a new name to make a password-protected copy while leaving the original PDF unlocked.
How to Encrypt PDFs Using Online PDF Tools
iLovePDF is a good web-based PDF program that you can use to protect your PDFs. Let's look at how to use iLovePDF to encrypt PDF files:
● Step 1: Type the URL into the search bar.
● Step 2: Click the Protect PDF button.
● Step 3: Import your PDFs that need protection to the computer.
● Step 4: Type your password into the text box and click Save to make the PDF password-protected.
Users can share PDFs from Google Drive, Dropbox, and local files, but they don't have to. When they are done, PDFs can be shared straight to cloud storage systems or shown as a link to download them.
When is it necessary to encrypt a PDF?
Protect Copyright
In the 21st century, property has become more important than ever. Copyright laws protect the creative and scientific process by ensuring that writers and inventors are the only ones who can profit from their own works. So, one useful reason to secure a PDF document is to protect the data or information from copyright violations.
In the United States, copyright law is taken very seriously, but it may not be as serious in other countries. It is against the law to copy or do any other kind of theft. It is wrong and insulting to the original writers to steal and copy artistic works and ideas.
Keep the content's integrity.
Another reason to lock your PDF is to ensure the information is correct. If you spend more time making changes to your thesis and putting notes all over the document, for example, encrypting your PDF can ensure that all thesis changes need a password.
PDF presentations also often have pictures as part of them. If this document is not protected with a password, users may change the position, shrink the page size, or remove the pictures by accident or on purpose. This will hurt the quality of the material for sure.
Why is it necessary to encrypt PDFs?
Ask yourself why you need to put a password on a PDF. It seems to be for the protection of your information. PDF encryption's main purpose is to ensure that information is safe. In short, there are two main reasons to lock your PDF: to control who can view it and who can change it.
Anyone can get to it if you don't use passwords to protect your PDF. Anyone can read it, and your information is no longer worth anything. PDF is known for being easy to share and distribute because it uses a stable format. This advantage can sometimes be a drawback, like when people copy and print without permission.
People still talk about the Panama Papers. In 2016, 11.5 million papers were lost or stolen, which brought attention to the safety of files and data. So, if file security is important to us, we should learn how to safeguard our digital PDFs.
