Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT
Some pdf files come to me so that when I click on them once, the whole page is selected -- I can't copy or add anything to the doc. Now that is protected! Can I do that with Preview? How?
I can already set a password for a pdf file, which prevents adding anything to it -- text, graphics, etc. That is different from the protection/security that I am looking for.
Mac Pro, macOS 12.1
Sorry for the confusion. Password protection means that when you click to change/add to a protected pdf, it asks for the password. I've got that, with enough granularity to do it OK. But, sometimes I receive pdf files that, when I click on them to change or add anything, the entire page is selected, & I'm not allowed to do _anything_ with it but print the puppy. It does not ask for a password, it simply highlights the entire page, and does not proceed.
Now that's protection. Can I/How do I do that with Preview?
Preview just handles things differently, but it's still protected. The protected pdfs you receive could be made with Acrobat Distiller or some other paid version of a pdf creator.
It's not at all clear to me what sort of protection you are looking for. Paragraph 2 sounds like it's already doing the same as paragraph 1 ie can't copy or add anything.
In Preview you can password protect and/or encrypt a PDF. Preview does not have the granular privacy controls that Adobe Acrobat has (for example, to prevent copying or printing).
How to protect pdf files
