Password protection can be handy for limiting access to PDF documents, because without the correct password, a user will not be able to open the PDF file to read its contents. That is, if the password cannot be easily extracted by one of the many tools available on the Internet today. Unless the password protected PDF document is encrypted securely, and I do not mean encrypted for use in generic PDF readers, the password will not be safe from extraction. And even if securely encrypted for a proprietary PDF reader, it may not be secure then either, because simply storing the password in the PDF file's header will not be good enough. To properly protect the password, it needs to be embedded inside the encrypted part of the document, so that only the appropriate proprietary reader can access it.


That is why the CopySafe PDF Protection software is so much more secure all round. CopySafe PDF passwords cannot be extracted without first decrypting the first part of the protected section of the document. Also, should password access be limited by expiry date, after which even a password will not open it, then again you will find CopySafe PDF Protection superior because it does not rely on the user's computer time which can easily be turned back. Instead, CopySafe PDF Protection software uses an online time server to validate the date and time.

Password protection of PDF can be secure but only when using protection software that is properly designed throughout. However password protection does have a huge flaw in that one user can share their password with literally thousands of other users. The only way to prevent that sharing is to use a real DRM solution. By "real" I mean PDF protection software that uses real DRM to identify and validate each individual user, which is usually either by MAC address, which is the identification number of the network card being used to connect to the Internet, or by the hard drive serial number of the computer being used. By using such DRM only one (or more) computer/s can be assigned to each user account and that account can no longer be shared because when using a combination of serial number with manufacturer name, there can never be a duplicate.

The CopySafe PDF Protection software uses superior DRM based on serial number identification and the their DRM management is most sophisticated. Having been used by hundreds of ebook authors and companies since 2008, the features available and the options available are more inclusive than any other PDF protection software. For example, when DRM is applied, authors can set expiration by calendar date or number of days/hours from a user's first use. Even the count of prints and document openings can be limited to a set number per user.

Such a sophisticated copy protection solution can also lend itself to protect images which can be distributed by email, download or on disk. In fact for distributing images for desktop view, PDF security software can also be used as your image protect software. Imagine being able to send a client an image in a protected PDF that they can only print once or however number of times that you nominate and have complete control over.