Can I set up a PDF file so that it cannot be printed or so that parts cannot be copied or cut?
I know that it can be done with Adobe Acrobat, but I’ve heard that it is easy to break through or hack this protection. What can I do so that I can give out my computer files, but so that they can be secure?
There isn’t any way, even with Acrobat. If you want your users to both be able to read the document and not be able to cut-n-paste or extract parts, then you are mistaken about what can be done.
People could do a screen capture and then run the results through OCR to extract the text. Or they could screen capture and then just print. And there are other PDF readers out there other than just Acrobat. Have you heard of xpdf or foxit? Do you know if they conform to the copy protection scheme? What if someone writes their own program that ignores the copy protection?
Now if you want nobody to be able to read the file at all, then you could encrypt the file with something like PGP. But at this point a PDF reader would fail to open the file because it would be indistinguishable from random bits.
In short, what you are talking about is impossible. They tried to do this with DVDs and look where it got them.
Bioloid Robot with 3-D printed parts
