Portable Document Format (PDF) is an open file format created by Adobe Systems in 1993 for document exchange. In the beginning, Adobe Reader was not available for free and the documents were bigger than the original text files. Consequently, some competitors were soon using other formats for documents and so Adobe started distributing its Acrobat Reader (now Adobe Reader) program for free and it eventually became the de facto standard for printable documents on the web.
Anyone can create applications that can read and write PDF files, without having to pay royalties to Adobe and there are some applications that are now available that have been created independently out of Adobe resources. Today, there are many PDF creators and readers to choose from, all of which can create what looks like a PDF document, but they may not be identical or fully compatible in cross-matched readers.
We use the term "simple" because it is just that. Here, the PDF has
been encapsulated similar to a ZIP file with expiry date or
password protection. Unfortunately this method has given DRM
a bad name because a web search can produce many apps that
remove that expiration and password protection to extract
what is a normal PDF inside.
Other "simple" methods may include encrypting the file for
use in a generic reader like the Adobe PDF Reader. Again,
such protection is easily exploited even if the decryption
process is built into the Adobe Reader because its PDF files
can easily be decompiled to extract their content. In fact
there are many apps available today that will convert PDF to
a variety of other file types.
To properly protect PDF documents, you need to start considering using a
custom reader and document format that cannot be decompiled.
Today there are many such solutions, but CopySafe
PDF provides the most effective copy protection and DRM. CopySafe
PDF documents
cannot be decompiled or exploited in any way, as they can only be
viewed using the CopySafe PDF Reader. Other apps for ebooks
such as EPUB, Mobi and PDF, can easily be decompiled to
extract the secrets of the encryption that was used.
Beyond password and expiry protection, you can also include
copy protection to prevent users from copying graphics and
text or printing a document. This is where
CopySafe PDF outperforms others because it was specially designed to be secure where others fail. CopySafe PDF documents cannot be copied in any way,
even by using PrintScreen or screen capture. Other solutions
tout protection from screen capture that merely relies on
software detection by name which is easily foiled by
changing the name of its .exe file. Whereas CopySafe
PDF interacts at system level to control the computer's
clipboard. In fact, there is no other solution in the world today that can provide such comprehensive
copy protection.
Documents that are copy protected using
CopySafe
PDF are most secure but they can still be forwarded to others. Moreover, preventing file copy is actually impossible. Once you have a file of any format on a computer, there is nothing that can be done to prevent it from
being copied to another folder, sent by email or copied to
disk for distribution.
However, you can prevent that file from being opened. In fact, you can choose who can actually open the file
by giving them permission to view and/or print and this is what we call Document Rights Management (DRM).
IIf the file cannot be opened by others who do not have your permission,
it doesn't matter how many copies are made, because only
those with your explicit permission will be able to open the
file and view its contents.
With ArtistScope
Document Rights Management (DRM) you can have total control over a
user's access rights and their privileges to view, print and how many times they can do these actions. Control also extends to the documents that have already been downloaded and
saved to the user's computers. As an administrator, any changes that you make to a document or the user's permissions will take effect immediately.
Prior to ArtistScope DRM, such "total control" was not possible. At the mere suggestion of this feature, other document protection providers tried to undermine
its credibility, claiming that it was impossible. But the
proof is there for all to see by making use of the
ArtistScope
demo portal for DRM where you can create a free demo account to
upload and DRM protect a PDF of your own choice.
CopySafe
PDF software provides three (3) output options. Protected
PDF can be created for desktop viewing, with or without DRM to
prevent sharing and distributed by email, download or on disk.
Or protected PDF can be encrypted to include
domain lock for display on web
pages using one of our add-ons for popular CMS like Drupal,
Joomla, Moodle and WordPress.