Skip to content
  • There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.

Manage Document Permissions

(Advanced feature of Nitro PDF Pro)

Setting Document Permissions

Set an owner password in a PDF to control the document's permissions. Document permissions settings specify whether certain actions are possible, such as printing or editing. These actions can only be performed by someone with the owner password.

Note: Adobe Reader, Preview, and Nitro PDF Pro do respect document permissions, but not all PDF editing applications do. Document permissions can be helpful in preventing casual PDF users from editing or other restricted activities, but they should not be relied on as fool proof security.

  1. Open the Inspector  window to the Document Permissions
    tab. (Window > Document Permissions).
  2. Click the Add button.
  3. Enter your desired password in the Password field, and then enter the password again in the Verify field. Click OK to finish.
  4. Select your permissions. The Pre-sets popup has a list of common permissions settings, explained below.
  5. Choose File > Save to apply these settings.
The owner password is now required to set or change these permissions. Test this by closing and opening your document.

Permissions Settings

We recommend using the pre-sets when possible since certain settings are mutually exclusive.

Print
Allow a user to print the PDF.

Allow high-res printing (not recommended)
Allow a user to print to PDF via the Print Dialog. This will flatten the PDF, negating all permissions settings. With this setting Off, that Print Dialog option will not appear.

Modify any content
Includes the options for Modify Pages, Fill forms, and Annotate documents.

Modify pages
Reorder, copy, delete pages.

Copy text and objects
Copy document content outside the document.

Fill forms
Allow a user to fill in form fields.

Annotate documents
Add comments, notes, highlights, markups.

Allow accessibility (recommended)
Allow accessibility utilities, such as VoiceOver, to have access to the text of the document.

The level of encryption is noted at the bottom of the window.

Changing or Removing Document Permissions

  1. Open the Inspector  window to the Document Permissions tab. (Window > Document Permissions).
  2. Click the Change button.
  3. Enter your password in the Password field, and then enter the password again in the Verify field.
  4. Click OK to change your permission settings or "Remove Owner Password" to remove document permissions.
  5. Choose File > Save to apply these settings.

Permissions Encryption

The default encryption of document permissions is AES–128. You can change this by adding a user password. The permissions encryption will take on the same encryption level as the user password.