How to disable printing of PDF files permanently without passwords

Why Adobe Acrobat print controls don’t work & how to prevent PDF printing

Adobe Acrobats print controls are meant to prevent printing but are easy to bypass or remove. Here we show you just how easy that is and how to prevent PDF printing permanently with Safeguard PDF DRM Security.

PDFs were created to be as portable and universal as possible – and they have broadly achieved that. Unfortunately, though, they weren’t built with security in mind. You may have experienced this first-hand if you’ve tried to stop an employee from printing a PDF, with copies somehow turning up despite your efforts. We’re going to put a stop to that today by showing you how to disable the printing of PDF files effectively while addressing the drawbacks of other methods.

Adobe Acrobat print controls don’t work

The biggest source of print frustrations for many will be Adobe Acrobat. The software, which requires a recurring subscription, allows you to set a permissions password that it claims restricts editing and printing of the document.

Unfortunately, this protection is only surface level. A quick Google search for “remove permissions password PDF” is all it takes for this security to fall apart. There are dozens of free online tools that let users upload their print-protected PDF and get a completely unprotected version back.

Sadly, that’s not even the worst of it. All of Adobe’s permissions rely on a trust-based system – they essentially hope that other PDF readers will agree to uphold their printing and editing restrictions. This means that opening a print-restricted PDF on an unsupported application like Word or Google Drive, or even just on macOS, will allow printing as normal. We’ll explore just one example of this below.

Bypassing Adobe print controls with SmallPDF

We’ll be using SmallPDFs protection remover to strip the print restrictions from a password protected Adobe PDF file. The tool is available for free online and is one of the first results when you search for “remove permissions password PDF”.

You’ll need to know the open password to do this, but naturally anybody you send the document to will need it to view the PDF anyway. Depending on the Acrobat version, or how strong it is, it may also be possible to crack the open password in a few seconds.

Either way, here’s what you need to do:

Drag and drop the PDF file to the SmallPDF webpage.
Tick “I pinky swear I have the rights to edit this file and remove its protection” and press “Unlock PDF!”.
Press the “Download” button to save your unprotected PDF.
Open the unlocked PDF and select “File > Print”.

Voila. That’s all it takes to remove the printing and editing protection from Adobe PDF. A user would now be able to make as many copies as they like without you being any the wiser.

How does DRM compare?

Clearly, Adobe Acrobat isn’t fit for purpose when it comes to PDF print restrictions. The question you’re asking now is likely what you should use instead. For the best protection, the clear answer is DRM software like Locklizard.

Rather than an honor system, Locklizard uses a combination of US government-grade encryption, secure and transparent key management, a secure licensing system, and a secure viewer application. Your protected PDF can only be opened by somebody with the secure viewer application and a license provided by you.

The DRM you apply determines which print controls the application enforces, which include:

disabling print
limiting the number of prints – these can be changed on-the-fly after distribution
automatically revoking access after prints have been depleted
allowing only degraded printing (black and white or greyscale)
watermarking prints
tracking print use

Unlike Adobe, these controls cannot be bypassed by free or professional tools.

In addition, Locklizard:

prevents printing to PDF files and other file drivers so users cannot create unprotected copies of PDF files.
enables you to change print settings after distribution. For example, you can allow printing on a print disabled PDF for specific users.

How to disable printing in a PDF with Locklizard

To disable the printing of PDF files with Locklizard, you need to select the relevant options when you encrypt it. Here’s how to do that, from start to finish:

Right-click your PDF file and choose “Make secure PDF”.
Open the “Printing & Viewing” tab.
Untick “Allow printing” (if it isn’t already). You’ll find the toggle at the very top of the printing section.
Press “Publish” at the bottom of the window.
Log in to your Safeguard Administration system.
Grant the relevant users access to your document.

To allow users to open your document, select it in the “Documents” tab of your admin portal, press “Grant or revoke access”, and tick their customer name. Then, change the “With all checked” dropdown to “Grant Access” and press “OK”.

How to limit printing to a certain number of copies

Sometimes it’s necessary to allow a receiver to print a document, but that doesn’t mean you want them printing an infinite number of copies. To reduce the chances that a receiver will widely print and distribute your content, you can limit their printing to one or two times with Locklizard. Here’s how:

Right-click your PDF and choose ‘Make secure PDF’.
Open the ‘Printing & Viewing’ tab.
Tick ‘Allow Printing’, and ‘Limit number of copies to:’. You can optionally tick ‘No access after print copies depleted’.
Press ‘Publish’ at the bottom of the window once you have applied any other controls. You’ll notice that the exported .pdc file is unopenable – this is because you need to grant a user access in your admin portal.
Log in to your Safeguard Administration system.
Grant the relevant users access to your document.

Select your PDF in the ‘Documents’ tab of your admin portal, then press ‘Grant or revoke access’ and tick their name. Change the ‘With all checked’ dropdown to ‘Grant Access’ and press ‘OK’.

How to limit printing to black and white copies

To limit copying of your PDF products, you can additionally allow documents to be printed only in black and white. This will make it more difficult for users to photocopy, clearer that it’s not a legitimate copy, or can signal that it’s a draft rather than a final proof.

To achieve this, follow the steps below:

Right-click your PDF in Windows File Explorer and select the option ‘Make Secure PDF’.
Open the ‘Printing & Viewing’ tab.
Tick ‘Allow Printing’.
Change the ‘Enforce color’ dropdown to ‘Black and White’ or ‘Grayscale’.

Bear in mind that the color printing restrictions will only be enforced on Windows. As a result, you may want to limit the operating systems receivers can print from. You can do this by changing the “Operating systems that can print” dropdown to “Only Windows”.
Press ‘Publish’ at the bottom of the window.

Once your document is protected, an encrypted .pdc file will appear in your output folder that’s unopenable by anybody who doesn’t have the relevant license registered to their secure viewer application. You can assign access to users and send license files via the Safeguard Admin portal.

How to add a print only watermark to a PDF

Watermarks can be a great way of establishing ownership of a document but there are occasions when you will only want them visible on printed copies. Here’s how to add a print only watermark to a PDF:

Right-click your PDF in Windows File Explorer and select the option “Make Secure PDF”.
Add a text watermark to your PDF.

In the “Print Watermarks” tab check the “Add Print Watermark” box. When typing your text, you can add dynamic information by clicking the edit icon and choosing your dynamic variables. For example, %UserName% and %Email% to identify the user. The “Position” and “Opacity” sliders allow you to adjust where the watermark sits on the page and its transparency, while the font icon, “Aa”, enables you to adjust font color, size, and formatting options.
Optionally, add a watermark image to your PDF.

In the “Print Watermarks > Image Watermark” tab, check the ‘Add Image watermark’ box. Browse for the image watermark you want to add. A large background watermark is usually a good idea, as it will be visible anywhere on the page. The opacity slider allows you to do this without being too obtrusive.
Save your watermarks and other security controls by pressing the “Publish” at the bottom of the PDF Writer window.

Make sure you have any other security controls you want to apply selected before you do so, as outlined earlier in this article. Once you publish your PDF, by default users will not be able to share, edit, copy or paste content, print, or take screenshots using screen capture tools. As a result, they can’t remove your watermark or distribute a version with the protection stripped.

How to log print requests

Locklizard allows you to track when documents are printed. When you allow printing you can log when, where, and how often a print happens. This allows you to see, for example, if a specific user is printing more than expected, or whether documents are being printed from unauthorized locations. If that is the case you can revoke document access instantly and remotely.

Here’s how to track prints:

Right-click your PDF and choose ‘Make secure PDF’.
Open the ‘Printing & Viewing’ tab.
Tick “Allow Printing”.

Select other limitations you’d like too, such as the number of copies limits, color, and operating systems.
Tick “Log print requests”.
Press “Publish” at the bottom of the window.

What’s the best way to disable printing of PDF files?

As we hope we’ve demonstrated, Locklizard provides both a more secure way to stop printing, and more granularity in the controls you can apply if you want to allow it. While it’s true that PDF software other than Adobe Acrobat can apply print protection, they rely on many of the same methods – including easily shareable passwords.

If you really want to stop the printing of your documents, then a DRM solution is the best, most secure, and value-efficient choice. Whether you’re a publisher, enterprise, or small business, Locklizard helps to prevent leaks, misuse, and unauthorized sharing, protecting your revenue and public image.

If you want to send PDF files securely, stop sharing, and enforce edit, print and copy protection restrictions then take a free 15 day trial of our PDF DRM software.

How to Disable Printing of PDF Files