Check document security

This Enfocus PitStop command allows us to check the security settings of a PDF; ie: if the PDF has been encrypted to restrict what can be done with it. If the condition established to verify is not met, the PDF will be marked as chosen in the "Log" area for further processing.

We can check if the document has a given set of security conditions ("must be") or that it does not have them ("must not be").

The sets of security conditions are eleven but we group them in five bunches:

• "None": The document has no security option. We can do anything with it as long as we have a program capable (cut, insert, change order, print, copy text, etc.). In printing and prepress, this is the best option as it ensures that there will be no problems when handling the PDF.
• "Acrobat… (corresponding to a specific version of Acrobat: 4, 5, 6 or 7)": The PDF must have (or not have) the standard security condition of the specified version of Acrobat.
• "None or Acrobat… (a specific version of Acrobat:(4, 5, 6, or 7)": The document passes or fails the check (depending on whether "Must be" or "Must not be" has been chosen) on the basis of the existence of one of the two given options.

• "Custom": If we choose this option, the security is based on what Adobe Acrobat calls a "security policiy", which is a set of security rules stored in Acrobat and applicable to PDFs. Each security policy has a name, which is what PitStop requires in the "Custom encryption name" box.

  

  Warning: Obviously the security policy must be available to the copy of PitStop that is executing the action. If it is not found, the action will not be successful but there will be no warning that it has failed and that this failure is due to that security policy regulations not beeing found. Thus, we must always check beforehand that the custom security policy exists, since the action does not check it.

• "None or standard": This option is the same as the second group but no specific Acrobat standard is specified. So, it is enough that the PDF has (or does not have) a standard condition or no security measures to pass the check.

The security condition checks relate to Acrobat versions because Adobe improves the security of the PDF format and Acrobat with the release of each new version of the software. Other manufacturers have logically followed in Adobe's wake. So it's an easy way to quickly describe the level of security. The four specified versions were published between 1999 and 2005.