Sonic Guide to Secure PDF Documents

Sonic PDF offers security features that provide the user with options on the type of PDF document they wish to create. Sonic PDF offers three main methods of creating secure PDF documents.

First, users can click on the Create Secure PDF button, “” on the Sonic PDF application user interface. This will ensure that the PDF security wizard is launched, allowing the user to set their desired settings for their secure PDF creation.

Secondly, users can create a secure PDF using the Sonic Print Driver – i.e. the print-to-PDF method (refer to Section D – Sonic Print Driver PDF Creation for more details). In order to do so, they must select the “Options” button in the “Create Adobe PDF file as…” dialog that appears during the PDF creation process:

Finally, users can change the default security settings for the Print Driver method by checking the “Always Create Secure PDF” option in the “Options for Sonic PDF Driver” dialog box. This will ensure that the PDF Security Wizard is launched every time a PDF document is created using the Print Driver method.

After starting the Secure PDF Creation process, Sonic's PDF Security Wizard dialogue box will appear:

The user can select the type of secure PDF document they wish to create - either: Acrobat 3 (PDF 1.2), Acrobat 4 (PDF 1.3), Acrobat 5 (PDF 1.4) or Acrobat 6 (PDF 1.5).  The type of PDF document selected considers two main elements:  compatibility of PDF for other users and available security features.  The following table provides some insight into the various options for PDF compatibility available:

Version of Acrobat	Version of PDF Format Used	Level of Encryption Available
Acrobat 3	PDF 1.2	40 Bit
Acrobat 4	PDF 1.3	40 Bit
Acrobat 5	PDF 1.4	40 Bit or 128 Bit
Acrobat 6	PDF 1.5	40 Bit or 128 Bit

 

Compatibility:  Generally, the earlier versions of PDF (i.e. Acrobat 3 or Acrobat 4) are more likely to be compatible for other users of the created PDF document.  However, because Adobe provides the most recent version of Acrobat Reader for free on the Internet, any user of the PDF document should be able to access any version of the PDF selected.  In some cases, where viewability is of paramount importance over features (and the user creating the PDF does not want to create hassles for other viewers of the PDF document) the user creating the PDF may wish to select an earlier version.  If security and features are a priority - the more recent versions of PDF (i.e. Acrobat 5 or Acrobat 6) should be used, since they support 128 Bit encryption. The platform of other users, such as Unix or Linux, should also be considered when selecting the type of PDF used, since certain programs and PDF viewers may not support PDF 1.5 (viewable in Acrobat 6).

Security Features: From the creation stand-point, the main difference between the older and newer versions of PDF are with encryption.  As noted in the table above, the only PDF formats that Sonic supports that can provide 128 Bit encryption are PDF 1.4 and PDF 1.5. Selecting the most recent available PDF format on Sonic will provide any end user with full access rights to the PDF the greatest amount of flexability for editing and manipulating that PDF document. However, where security is not of paramount importance, and where convenience may be of greater concern, then an older version of PDF format may be preferred. To create the most secure PDFs using Sonic - PDF 1.5 format with 128-bit encryption and password requirements should be selected.

In addition to PDF compatibility, there are four PDF information fields that the user creating the PDF can designate:

Title:  This is the title of the PDF document, which is used internally to the PDF.  In other words, selecting a title for this item will not result in the PDF being automatically saved as the title (so the document name does not correlate with the Title).  However, other users manipulating the PDF document will be able to see the Title designated for this PDF as it will be embedded internally within the PDF.

Author:  This field allows the person creating the PDF the opportunity to identify themselves or their organization, if they so wish.  This may allow future users of the PDF the opportunity to refer to or contact the author if they have any questions regarding the information contained in the PDF document.

Subject and Keywords:  These two fields allow the user creating the PDF additional opportunities to describe the contents of the PDF document being created.  In some cases, other users may be able to use the subject and keyword fields to sort or search the created PDF document.

After determining the appropriate format and fields described above, the user will be presented with the second screen of Sonic's PDF Security Wizard will appear:

The first field is determining Encryption Level.  For the most secure PDF documents, 128 Bit encryption should be selected.  This selection is only available for PDF documents created using Acrobat 5 or Acrobat 6 formats.

The user can then select a password that will then be required in order to view the PDF document.  If the user selects a password, they will have to forward this password to any other person wishing to view the contents of the PDF document being created.  If the user does not wish to select a password, they can "uncheck" the box next to: "Password to open the document" .  By doing so, users will not require a password to view the document.

Designating a, "Password to change permissions and passwords" is mandatory in order for a document to be encrypted.  This password will always allow a user with this password to access and edit the PDF document - whether or not a "Password to open the document" has been given.  This password should only be given to a trusted source - since providing this level of access to a third party will allow that party to change the permissions of the document including whether the contents of the document can be edited, changed or revised. 

WARNING: THE "PASSWORD TO CHANGE PERMISSIONS AND PASSWORDS" WILL GIVE ANY USER THE ABILITY TO CHANGE, MODIFY AND EDIT AN ENCRYPTED PDF DOCUMENT, REGARDLESS OF THE TYPE OF ENCRYPTION USED.  ONLY GIVE THIS PASSWORD OUT TO TRUSTED SOURCES WHOM YOU WISH TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO CHANGE, MODIFY AND EDIT THE INFORMATION EMBEDDED WITHIN A PDF DOCUMENT.

Permissions:  The final step is to designate the level of permissions provided to users with access to the PDF document - these permissions will only affect users that have access to the document via a "Password to open the document".  By unchecking the box next to each permission, the user creating the PDF can restrict access and editing rights to users that require a password to view a PDF. 

Note: The permissions do not apply to users with that have received a "Password to change permissions and passwords".  Such users already have full access to edit, modify and change permissions of the created PDF document.

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