PDF Locking is the process of securing a PDF file by adding a password to protect the PDF file from access. Without providing any security to a PDF file, the PDF has no protection and everybody has complete access to the PDF file. There are different levels of PDF security. A common way to control accessibility to a PDF is to add a single password to prevent all users access to the file. This is commonly used for financial and other confidential information. This single password is often called an admin password, describing the person with the password as the administrator of the PDF file. This administrator can enter their password and have complete access to the file, yet protect the PDF file from access by anyone else.
Another password can be added for other users, often called a user password. A common reason for adding a user password is to provide some access to users, such as printing and viewing capabilities, yet prevent modification of the PDF file by users. The administrator would have complete access over the file, those with a user password would have limited access to the PDF file, and those without either admin or user password would have no access. The image below shows how a PDF document is locked with a password.
As shown above, you can lock PDF files with a password to prevent access. From this point on, the protected PDF file requires a password to be entered before the file can be accessed. A secure PDF file can also be unlocked if the admin password is known.
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