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Protected PDF files

Does anyone know how to view protected PDF? My school, University of Phoenix, uses text books that are protected PDF and I would love to use the iPad to read my textbooks. Any help would be appreciated.

MacBook Pro 2.16Mhz, Mac OS X (10.6.3), Max'd OUT!!!

Posted on Apr 6, 2010 11:13 PM

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35 replies

Apr 7, 2010 9:32 PM in response to Richard Winkleman

Hi, I am also a UOP student. The massive amount of reading is why I bought the iPad. I have also purchased 5 different apps that claim to open PDF files. The last of which was Readdle app and it claimed to open protected PDF files (Readdle by far the best app). The real problem is a conflict with Safari and our books. I also recently purchased a iMac and I had the same (black page issue) we have now, I changed the Mac to firefox browser and there is no issue now.

What does work for now is copy and paste the PDF book in to a word doc. It takes time but then you have a portable and readable book. Personally I will be contacting the techs at school to deal with the conflict, it is to there benefit to fix the issue. I can't speak for you, but I would search for a new college before I give this iPad up. 😉.

My email at school is pnthrgrl add all the address stuff you have tagged to yours we can tag team the issue if you like.

I hope this helps you..

Apr 11, 2010 9:17 AM in response to pdmad

I am also UOP student, and i contacted the school and their reply was

"At this time protected eBooks are not currently supported on the Apple
iPad. This will be true until Adobe creates a version of Adobe Reader for
those devices. However, unprotected PDF files should be accessible on the
iPad.

In order to be able to access our protected eBook files, you must have
Adobe Reader installed as it is the only application that can unlock the
documents. You may want to see about contacting Apple support or Adobe
support to see if they plan to incorporate this software in the device in
the future."

So I am also looking for an app that will help work around this issue, if anyone knows of one please let me know.

Pages will export a pdf, but will not read one. I have MyPDFs, GoodReader, PDFReader HD, all will read unprotected files fine. I also have iPDF which claims to be able to read protected file, but it is not capable of transferring file through itunes, only via internet, i tired using Dropbox with it, but is did not work. Any tips or suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

Apr 11, 2010 10:43 AM in response to Richard Winkleman

Does anyone know how to view protected PDF?

Such files can be viewed using any software or software managed device capable of being "registered" with a valid "Adobe ID." This currently includes software like Sony's Reader Library v3.1 and Adobe's own Digital Editions v1.7.2 and the compatible devices they can manage. At this time I know of no iPad PDF/ePub reader app capable of this but it might be worth your while to request Adobe to consider creating such an app for use on the iPad.




User uploaded file

Apr 13, 2010 6:18 PM in response to Richard Winkleman

I too purchased the iPad solely for use with school. The idea of reading my 200 pages a week on the iPad had me jumping to get one. So much for that. I cannot get anything to read the encrypted textbooks and have found no "cracking" software that works. What a waste. Luckily there are ways of getting around the posting online issues (see UOP website for an easy workaround) but the textbooks still have no solution. I ended up taking my iPad back because the one thing students would use it most for doesn't even work. Strange how the largest university in the United States was still completely overlooked by Apple, especially because they often mention how good it will be for students.

Dec 8, 2010 7:55 PM in response to galdegal

UOP now unlocks the chapters that you have to read so that they can be exported to the iPad. The second icon next to the chapter title (looks like a page with writing on it and a down arrow) is the unlocked PDF version.

It would be good to have the whole book on the iPad, but I now spend my first day of class downloading each individual chapter to the iPad using the DropBox app. (I also spend time deleting the previous class' chapters...)

Dec 14, 2010 11:22 AM in response to OziBattler

Many PDF documents can only be read by installing "file-open". However, I tried to download and install the mac version of file open. Guess what?... It did not work. There currently seems to be no plug in for reading pdf's that open with file open for this operating system.
I am a mechanical inspection engineer, and wanted to use the iPad for reading my code books. I hold a licence for all my code books, norms and standards, and none of them can be read, because file open cannot be installed. It turns out, the iPad is only a nice to have gadget, nothing more nothing less. It looks nice on the outside, but has no inner character for professional use.

May 11, 2011 11:15 AM in response to josettefromgermantown

Not all course material can be read online; for example, RES/342 course material is download only. But, I found the solution after combing the UoP PhoenixConnect threads. PDF Reader Pro ($9.99) has been updated and now reads protected pdf. This news saved my iPad, because I was definitely ready to put it up on eBay. The thing is wonderful...wonderful with its apple products, but incredibly imperfect with its failure to integrate with other companies.

Protected PDF files

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