Affinity Designer - PDF Export Security

[influxx]

The security options in the PDF Export dialog seem broken to me. Currently it is required to use 2 different passwords to implement any kind of document security. I cant think of a use case where this would be necessary.

Secondary to this, the cop/edit/print security only works if open security is activated. By which I mean a user needs to password-secure a file to open, then password-secure the same file to edit or print. I would think the two use cases should be separate. Maybe this is a shortcoming in the PDF model itself, but I'm sure in the past in Illustrator I have set up a PDF to open just fine (without password protection) but have restricted any copy or edit functions.

This seems the most useable interaction with a PDF, I can let anyone read it but only those (ie; me) with the password can copy the data, to avoid plagiarism.

I really need to copy-protect my PDFs but dont want to limit the usability of my clients by forcing them to input a password every time I send them a new file.

[MikeTO]

This is the security model for PDF files so it's not something Serif can change. Adobe Acrobat works the same way.

There are two types of passwords for PDF files - the document open password and the permissions password. The permissions password has options for printing, editing, and copying.

2 hours ago, influxx said:

Secondary to this, the cop/edit/print security only works if open security is activated. By which I mean a user needs to password-secure a file to open, then password-secure the same file to edit or print. I would think the two use cases should be separate. Maybe this is a shortcoming in the PDF model itself, but I'm sure in the past in Illustrator I have set up a PDF to open just fine (without password protection) but have restricted any copy or edit functions.

That's not the way it's supposed to work and I just tried it and didn't have this problem.

[influxx]

Hi Mike, thanks for your reply.

To follow up, it turns out the problem is with Preview v11 (on Catalina) has broken the PDF encryption implementation.

I booted into an El Capitan volume and sure enough all the PDFs I created all have the correct encryption and copy protection. Further, in later versions of Preview more robust tools for editing and setting encryption levels have been added. For some ungodly reason Apple saw fit to bugger things up in v11.

To correct your observations above, Affinity HAS chosen to implement PDF encryption in a bizzare way. See the attached screengrabs and you can see that it IS possible to allow/protect the individual functions. The way Affinity has implemented this is kinda backward. I can allow someone to print but only with a password. What I have done in the past (and is demonstrated in my screen grabs) is allow anyone to print, but restrict copying.

Unless I'm very much mistaken. The wording on the Affinity Designer is suggesting I'm right.

[MikeTO]

11 hours ago, influxx said:

To correct your observations above, Affinity HAS chosen to implement PDF encryption in a bizzare way. See the attached screengrabs and you can see that it IS possible to allow/protect the individual functions. The way Affinity has implemented this is kinda backward. I can allow someone to print but only with a password. What I have done in the past (and is demonstrated in my screen grabs) is allow anyone to print, but restrict copying.

Unless I'm very much mistaken. The wording on the Affinity Designer is suggesting I'm right.

This is just the way security in Acrobat and PDF works. You set a "permissions password" that covers a number of editing functions and then choose which options you want to allow, such as printing or copying.

It does seem backward and you can even set a permissions password and allow everything but this is how Adobe designed it.

To allow everybody to print but restrict copying, just enter a permissions password and select Allow Document Printing. This is the exact same as the Illustrator UI screenshot you shared so I'm not seeing an issue. Note that you don't have to set an open password to set a permissions password, they are independent.

[influxx]

Hi Mike

No its not how it works in Illustrator as I understand it. Maybe the Affinity wording is poor and I'm misunderstanding it, but I am certain that is not the case. It seems like you add a password then choose to allow printing or copying. My results back this up. Thats bassackward. I dont want to restrict printing to a password. Thats asinine. I cant think of a use case where I allow someone to open a file but not print it. But there is a clear and obvious use case for allowing someone to open a file but not copy it.

And no Illustrator does not work that way. I've been using it for decades and have a library of PDFs that have copy encrypted but printing allowed. Even new versions of Preview work this way, so no it is not 'how PDFs work'. Thats a lazy assessment.

The End

(roll credits)

[MikeTO]

1 hour ago, influxx said:

No its not how it works in Illustrator as I understand it. Maybe the Affinity wording is poor and I'm misunderstanding it, but I am certain that is not the case. It seems like you add a password then choose to allow printing or copying. My results back this up. Thats bassackward. I dont want to restrict printing to a password. Thats asinine. I cant think of a use case where I allow someone to open a file but not print it. But there is a clear and obvious use case for allowing someone to open a file but not copy it.

And no Illustrator does not work that way. I've been using it for decades and have a library of PDFs that have copy encrypted but printing allowed. Even new versions of Preview work this way, so no it is not 'how PDFs work'. Thats a lazy assessment.

I believe you're misunderstanding what the checkbox does:

• If you select "Require password for modification and printing" and don't select "Allow Document Printing", printing the PDF will require entering the password
• If you select "Require password for modification and printing" and select "Allow Document Printing", printing the PDF will not require entering the Permissions password

Think of the checkbox as "Allow Document Printing Without Password".

In Adobe software, you select "Restrict editing and printing of the document" (which is identical to selecting "Require password for modification and printing" in Affinity) and set "Printing Allowed" to None, Low Resolution, or High Resolution - choosing "High" does the same thing as selecting "Allow Document Printing" in Affinity - there is no Low Res option in Affinity.

I tested Affinity and Adobe software just now and they both work in the same way. You can find more information on Adobe's help site: https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/securing-pdfs-passwords.html