To make a 'read only' embed PDF, with restriction on SAVE & PRINT

ReaDentistry
(@readentistry)

12 years, 5 months ago

I’m trying to embed some PDFs in posts, but I wish the readers can only view but not to print or save a local copy of them.
If I use embed code like:
<embed src=”http://yoursite.com/the.pdf” width=”600″ height=”500″>
Obviously the PDF can still be downloaded by pressing the ‘save’ button, even it has been protected from printing and editing.
It is the same situation if I use the ’embed pdf’ plug-in.
Better with ‘Google Doc Embedder’ as i was able to hide all the control buttons away if I choose to use ‘Enhanced Viewer’ but as the pdf will be handled by Google Docs, any pdf files of a size over 20MB will not be displayed, instead you have “Sorry, we are unable to retrieve the document for viewing or you don’t have permission to view the document…”.
Plus, it will take ages to load a pdf file with the GDE plug-in.

My question is: is there really any way we can display a ‘READ ONLY’ PDF file in a post or page?

Thanks a lot for your answers!

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

Moderator Kathryn Presner
(@zoonini)

12 years, 5 months ago

My question is: is there really any way we can display a ‘READ ONLY’ PDF file in a post or page?

No. No matter what you do, someone can simply take a screenshot of every page and print it out.

Thread Starter ReaDentistry
(@readentistry)

12 years, 5 months ago

Thanks for reminding, zoonini.
Agree. But if I reduce the height of the window, it is still easy for reading but much more difficult for screenshot of every page. Also the files I’m trying to display are quite large, at least it will make someone’s life more difficult if they really want to.
Still anyone have any good idea?

Moderator Kathryn Presner
(@zoonini)

12 years, 5 months ago

http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/2347/adobe_acrobat_8_prevent_editing_printing_pdf/

http://www.locklizard.com/prevent-printing.htm

http://www.restrictpdf.com/prevent-pdf-from-printing.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_6299874_disable-pdf-print-function.html

This isn’t really WordPress-related, though. Good luck.

Moderator Kathryn Presner
(@zoonini)

12 years, 5 months ago

p.s. a tech-savvy person will always find a way around your printing restrictions, though, and it will frustrate most everyone else.

http://www.geckoandfly.com/3346/how-to-copy-paste-and-print-secured-and-restricted-pdf-document/

If you explain why you’re trying to prevent printing perhaps there are some other solutions available. But again, this is a WordPress forum, so you may want to try posting your question in a different type of forum.

Thread Starter ReaDentistry
(@readentistry)

12 years, 5 months ago

Thanks again, Zoonini. I think my question is about WordPress.
I know that if you actually have the PDF file, you can definitely work out how to print it somehow, no mater what kind of protection you have on the file. That why what im concentrating on is not to put a password or certificate on a pdf file, but to find out if there is a way that the PDF file is embedded in a viewing window with no functional buttons around. So there will be no way to save it and the only way to make a copy is screenshot which I would not really mind as I said before.
The closest thing I got is the Google docs embeder, it can hide all the functional buttons away, but only a file under 20MB can be viewed, and it running very slow on my site to display a PDF.

There are already some other threads out there about similar need, but yet none is perfect.
It would be perfect if I can use the short code mentioned at beginning of the thread, but have the buttons hidden, as I like it displaying PDFs very fast.

Thanks

Thread Starter ReaDentistry
(@readentistry)

12 years, 5 months ago

Seems many people looking for this:

http://wordpress.org/support/topic/add-read-only-pdf-document-to-wp?replies
http://wordpress.org/support/topic/embedding-pdf-read-only-no-print-and-no-download?replies
http://wordpress.org/support/topic/add-read-only-pdf-document-to-wp?replies

Any solution?

esmi
(@esmi)

12 years, 5 months ago

This is not a WordPress issue. If you don’t want someone printing your pdf files, don’t put them on the Web.

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

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To make a 'read only' embed PDF, with restriction on SAVE & PRINT

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