Control how long PDF documents can be accessed and used with PDF expiry. Automatically expire PDF files without useless PDF expiration date scripts – expiry controls are always enforced and cannot be bypassed.
Creating PDF files that expire with Safeguard is very simple.
Right-click on your PDFs in Windows File Explorer and select the menu option ‘Make Secure PDF’.
Free 15 Day TrialIn Safeguard Secure PDF Writer, choose the PDF expiry options you want to apply:
You can select multiple PDF expiry options – a fixed date and a number of days from first use, a number of views and/or prints. Which ever option is reached first will cause the PDF to expire.
Expiry days, views and prints are allocated on a user basis – so the same PDF file with expire at different times for individual users.
Once you have chosen your PDF expiry options, press the Publish button.
You might want to set a PDF document to never expire but user access to it to cease automatically on a given date.
You can expire PDF files on an individual user basis in the Safeguard Administration System – different users can be given different access periods to the same PDF files.
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Why have expiring PDF documents? |
Locklizard PDF DRM offers a number of ways of using expiry to automatically cease access to documents. But why would you want PDFs to expire?
No. Once a PDF has expired it can no longer be opened.
You can however change the PDF expiration date on the Safeguard Admin system at any stage if you need to alter it – e.g. you need to extend the life of the document because of delays in delivering the document or not updating it in the time planned.
Protect your IPRSee why thousands of companies use Locklizard to safeguard their documents and increase revenue streams.
There are many reasons for creating PDF files that expire and why you may want to expire both documents and users. Each of them has specific effects and controls. But they are not mutually exclusive and can be used in combination, and some may be changed after publishing the document or adding the user.
Expire PDF files on a specific date
Expire PDFs after a number of days after first open
Expire PDFs after a number of views
Expire PDF files after a number of prints
Expire user accounts on a fixed date
Revoke access to users and PDF files instantly
Document ExpirySafeguard’s PDF expiry options enables document publishers to automatically expire PDF files so they can no longer be used after a certain amount of time. The following options are available:
These options can also be used together so that you can enter say a number of days/views/prints and a fixed date and whatever occurs first causes the document to expire. You might for example want a user to be able to use your documents for a 15 day trial period but those documents will expire on a fixed date regardless if the trial period is used or not.
Expiry dates can be changed on the administration system at any time and you can increase the number of views/prints available for each user.
How to set an expiration date on a PDFTo create a PDF file that expires on a date:
In the Safeguard Writer Expiry tab, select ‘Document Expires at” and then from the date selection dialog, select an expiry date (the date the PDF will expire on).
The PDF document will expire on this date for all users.
You can edit the PDF expiration date in the Safeguard Admin system if you want to change it at any stage.
How to set a PDF expiration date for individual user accessYou can set an expiration date on a PDF for individual users – in this case, access to the PDF can be set to expire at different dates for each user.
This is done from the Safeguard Adminstration system when granting user access to a PDF document:
You can use this method to control PDF expiration regardless of whether you have set an expiration date on a PDF or not.
If a document also has a fixed expiry date then the Until date cannot exceed that – in other words you cannot extend access beyond a document’s expiry date.
How to set PDF expiry in daysTo create a PDF file that expires after a number of days from first use:
In the Safeguard Writer Expiry tab, select ‘Document Expires after” and then enter the number of days after which the PDF will expire.
The PDF document will expire after the number of days you enter here from when it was first opened. This will be different for each user if they first open the document on different dates.
How to make a PDF expire after a number of opens (views) or printsYou can make a PDF expire after a number of opens or prints – this is allocated to each user, so each user is given the number of opens or prints you set here.
In the Safeguard Writer Printing & Viewing tab, select the number of print copies and views allowed.
If you set both a view and print limit then expiry of the document will occur when whatever is reached first.
User ExpirySafeguard’s PDF protection gives you total control over when individual user access to your PDF files expire. You might want to set your PDF files to never expire but have user access to them expire.
Publication ExpirySafeguard’s PDF protection enables you to control PDF expiry to groups of documents (publications) on an individual user basis. Different users will often require document access at different times (and for access to expire accordingly) depending on when first purchased a product (say a training course) or when they were first given access to documents.
A user for example, may have subscribed to one of your publications for a year, and all documents in that publication are accessible to them for a year. After a year, they will still be able to view their existing documents, but not any new ones that are published after their subscription period has ended, unless of course they subscribe for an additional period.
Users can be given access to multiple publications, each with their own expiry period.
Revoke PDF accessBeing able to revoke PDF files is an important part of any document security solution.
While PDF expiry options happen automatically when a certain time frame is reached, you may want to manually revoke access to PDF files to terminate access to protected PDF documents instantly.
There may be times when:
Safeguard’s PDF protection enables you to:
You can revoke access to PDF files at any time no matter where your PDF files are located.
NOTE: In order to revoke PDF access instantly the document must be set to check with the administration system each time it is opened. If you have created PDF files that only check with the administration system every n days then PDF revocation will only take place once a check has occurred.
PDF self destruct, self deleting PDFs & self destroying PDF filesThe ability to create a self destructing, self-destroying or self-deleting PDF file or document sounds like something out of a Mission Impossible film – but it is easily achieved using expiry controls to time limit PDF document access. The end result is to make PDF files inaccessible after a period of time – the PDF file does not self-destruct or self-delete, it just can no longer be opened.
By applying expiry controls to a PDF document, access to it will automatically cease after a given time period. This has the same effect as a self-destroying / self-deleting / self-destructing PDF file but is actually more secure since access is permanently removed. If a self-destroying PDF, self-deleting PDF, or self-destructing PDF file is copied to another device, what file have you actually destroyed or deleted? This is the same issue as the remote file deletion one – if a backup has been made then the deletion system is rendered useless. With PDF expiry, the DRM controls remain with the file itself, so even if a backup is taken, the backup file will also automatically expire.
See the section titled “Creating expiring PDF files: Expire PDF documents with Safeguard PDF security” which takes you through adding expiry controls to a PDF file.
Expired PDF files and PDF expiry messagesOnce a PDF file has expired it can no longer be opened. Users cannot unlock or open expired PDF files.
When a PDF file has expired, an expiry message is displayed:
The email address is replaced with your own one so users know who to contact once the PDF has expired.
In Safeguard Enterprise, you can customize the expiry message with your own text. Select the Messages tab in Safeguard Writer and enter your custom expiry message in the ‘show message’ dialog.
Alternatively, select the ‘navigate to URL’ option to load a web page in the user’s default browser once the PDF has expired.
Publishers selling PDF documents may find customizing the PDF expiry message useful in soliciting for additional business once a PDF file has expired. For example, you might want to direct users to a web page that enables them to purchase additional access or a new version.
Can users remove PDF expiry or change the PDF expiry date?No. Safeguard PDF DRM enforces expiry controls for both online and offline files. Users cannot remove PDF expiry or change PDF expiry dates.
Unlike useless PDF expiration date scripts, expiry controls are always enforced and cannot be bypassed.
Using a PDF expiration date script to control PDF expiry is completely useless because:
And that is before you even consider the security issues of enabling JavaScript in PDF Readers – generally a bad idea since hackers use JavaScript to deploy malicious payloads in PDF files.
Download PDF expiry softwareDownload PDF expiry software that uses US Government strength encryption and digital rights management controls to create expiring PDF files – automatically expire PDF files after a given period of time and revoke PDF documents instantly.
Safeguard PDF Security and Enterprise PDF DRM enable you to automatically expire PDF files and revoke PDFs instantly to ensure they remain totally protected regardless of their location.
Protect PDF files against copying, printing, editing, and unauthorized distribution. Lock PDF files to individual devices and locations so they cannot be shared. Watermark PDFs and track use.
