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AD PDF export - password protect?


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Hi,

Just started using Designer instead of Illustrator, forgive my ignorance as a newbie, but I can't find any way of password protecting editing of my pdfs. In the adobe products, when you export to pdf you can set a permissions password for editing pdfs, thus protecting your work from being copied.

Is there a way of doing this? I can't find it, and have noticed other have asked the same, but nothing recent.

Thanks in advance!

Gem

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  • Staff

Hi Gem,

Welcome to the forums :)

Unfortunately this isn't currently an option when exporting from Affinity, however we hope to implement it at a later date. I'll move this thread to Feedback and Suggestions now, in the meantime you can still apply security to the exported PDF in Acrobat Pro via File > Properties > Security.

Please Note: I am now out of the office until Tuesday 2nd April on annual leave.

If you require urgent assistance, please create a new thread and a member of our team will be sure to assist asap.

Many thanks :)

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5 hours ago, Dan C said:

Hi Gem,

Welcome to the forums :)

Unfortunately this isn't currently an option when exporting from Affinity, however we hope to implement it at a later date. I'll move this thread to Feedback and Suggestions now, in the meantime you can still apply security to the exported PDF in Acrobat Pro via File > Properties > Security.

Hi Dan,

Thanks for your reply, and your welcome!

Ok, thanks for moving it to feedback, as Haakoo has mentioned, the links would also be really useful for me. I was hoping to completely ditch Adobe, especially once Publisher is finished! Will look forward to the progress being made...

Cheers, Gem

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  • 7 months later...

I have started a project using Publisher that will include very sensitive material. This project will take several days. I AM SHOCKED TO FIND THERE IS NO WAY TO PASSWORD PROTECT/ENCRYPT this document. Both Designer and Publisher need a way to be saved as an encrypted/password protected document. You can do so with with most other apps (Adobe, Microsoft, etc). Then, at the same time, be able to export as a protected PDF.

(I have no trouble password protecting a currently exported PDF using Acrobat or PDF Expert, but that still leaves the original Publisher document unprotected.)

Please, Affinity, figure out how to do this and update these apps accordingly. Not being able to do so is a critical shortcoming for me and a lot of others.

I hate Adobe and do not want to go back to Illustrator or InDesign, but needing a way to encrypt my work is extremely important!

Thank you. 

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7 hours ago, FHPhotog2 said:

I have started a project using Publisher that will include very sensitive material. This project will take several days. I AM SHOCKED TO FIND THERE IS NO WAY TO PASSWORD PROTECT/ENCRYPT this document. Both Designer and Publisher need a way to be saved as an encrypted/password protected document. You can do so with with most other apps (Adobe, Microsoft, etc). Then, at the same time, be able to export as a protected PDF.

(I have no trouble password protecting a currently exported PDF using Acrobat or PDF Expert, but that still leaves the original Publisher document unprotected.)

Please, Affinity, figure out how to do this and update these apps accordingly. Not being able to do so is a critical shortcoming for me and a lot of others.

I hate Adobe and do not want to go back to Illustrator or InDesign, but needing a way to encrypt my work is extremely important!

Thank you. 

Lot of programs, also free, to encrypt files or folders in Windows. Windows 10 pro has a feature for that. Veracrypt, 7zip etc.

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  • 6 months later...

I don't understand either why the password protecting is apparently a difficult thing to do.  I created an ebook tutorial for sale in InDesign and discovered that there is no way to protect it.  Why would any app give you the ability to write a book and not protect it?

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 1 year later...
On 3/29/2020 at 7:41 AM, Fixx said:

Most users do not need password protection. Those who need can use separate application to do so.

I disagree with this statement as piracy of creative works is at an all time high.

Any professional could certainly and should certainly be protecting their work from piracy. Since Affinity touts itself as a viable alternative to traditional design software, this addition to secure ones work is critical.

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On 4/23/2020 at 11:22 PM, Roman_R said:

I have just dicovered, that exporting a pdf with Print > Save as PDF comand on a Mac, you can encrypt a file with a password. Unfortunately you do not have a control over compression.

Fantastic!

I’ll give this a try… thanks for sharing. 
I’d like to see this feature in Affinity some time. 

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14 hours ago, Silverwulf said:

Any professional could certainly and should certainly be protecting their work from piracy. Since Affinity touts itself as a viable alternative to traditional design software, this addition to secure ones work is critical.

Have you seen how many PDF Password cracking tools there are? Passwords really don't offer true protection from piracy, as a pirate won't hesitate to use one of those tools.  Though I suppose you'd have additional evidence when you take someone to court.

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

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I'm sure you're right @walt.farrell in that it's easy to crack.

I teach at a university and I produce all my own instructional notes and handouts that I give to students.
I like to put a "can't edit / copy" lock on these docs so students can't easily copy all my work.

As you said it's not full proof but works for 90% of them.

 

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54 minutes ago, ra.skill said:

As you said it's not full proof but works for 90% of them.

Locks keep honest people from walking into your place and looking at your stuff.

Mac Pro (Late 2013) Mac OS 12.7.4 
Affinity Designer 2.4.0 | Affinity Photo 2.4.0 | Affinity Publisher 2.4.0 | Beta versions as they appear.

I have never mastered color management, period, so I cannot help with that.

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  • 2 weeks later...

If you need your SOURCE DOCUMENTS protected then it seems like you are better off using a tool which encrypts your whole volume, rather than getting each individual application to cook up their own encryption method. Since this is something every OS already provides I would rather see Serif put their efforts into adding PDF protection, which would be truly useful to many.

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