Viewing protected PDF files
Before you can open a secure PDF file (PDC file) you have to either:
- install a Viewer
- login to the Web Viewer
- be sent a USB stick that contains secure PDF files, a Viewer and a keystore
Install the Secure PDF Viewer
You will have been sent an email with instructions to download the Viewer and your license file to view secure PDF files.
Install the Viewer, then click on the license to activate it (register). Activating the license verifies your account and enables you to open the secure documents you have been given access to.

Log in to the Web Viewer
If you have been given Web Viewer access then you don’t install a Viewer – instead you view secure PDF files in your browser.
You will have been sent an email with with your login details for the Web Viewer. Click on the login link and enter your username and password.

Open Secure PDF files on a USB Device
If you have been given a USB device with protected PDF files (PDC files) then this will already contain the Secure Viewer – you don’t install anything.
Just click on a protected PDF for it to open.

PDF Decryption process for the Secure PDF Viewer (installed version)
When you view a secure PDF file (PDC file) for the first time, the Secure PDF Viewer software will check if it already has the correct key needed for decryption so that you can view it. If it does not, the Secure PDF Viewer will check with your publisher’s administration server to see if you have been granted access to the document, and the rights that pertain (you MUST be connected to the Internet at this point). If access is allowed then the decryption key is securely transferred from the administration server to the Secure PDF Viewer and you are then able to view the secure PDF document.
If access is not allowed, a message, set by the publisher, will be displayed telling you how they wish to be contacted so that you can gain access to the secure PDF file.
After a secure PDF document has been successfully opened, you may not need to connect to the Internet unless the publisher of the secured PDF document requires this or you take an action such as making a printed copy, that has to be verified online before it can be allowed.
If a publisher has protected documents to a publication that you have been granted access to, then once you have viewed one secure PDF document from that publication, you will not have to connect to the Internet again to use other secure PDF documents in that publication, unless the publisher’s controls require you to.