Portable Document Format (PDF) is the most widely used standard to share documents across the web and different platforms. The greatest feature of PDF file is that it looks the same across any platform and in any environment. PDF format is the perfect format to share documents across multiple platforms. There are several features of PDF files including password protection.
A PDF document can easily be password protected. Let’s see how we can password protect a PDF document. There are two ways to password a PDF document for free. One is using a software and the other is using an online service to password protect a PDF document. We will be discussing three tools which are a mix of both ways of password protection.
PrimoPDF
PrimoPDF by Nitro PDF Software is the best free PDF creator software. You can easily convert a Word or Excel document into a PDF document. PrimoPDF only requires drag and drop operations in order to convert a document. After installation, PrimoPDF will create a shortcut on the desktop. You can drag and drop any file to that shortcut to automatically convert the document into PDF.
If you double click the shortcut, you will be taken to PrimoPDF options. You can create a password under PDF security. If you want to use the same password for every converted document, then you can check the checkbox “Always use these settings” otherwise uncheck it so that these settings can only be used on the next document to be converted.
PDFProtect
The second solution is an online solution. The online solution is the best when you want to password protect a document without installing anything on your computer. But one must take care that they should have a good Internet connection in order to use the online PDF password protecting service. This is because the PDF files need to be uploaded and downloaded again in order to complete the password protection operation.
To password protect a document online, go to pdfprotect.net, browse the file and then enter your required password. You can choose the encryption strength to be high or low. If you are using modern PDF readers, then you can leave the encryption level to high or otherwise make it low for maximum compatibility. Pressing the “Protect” button will upload the file to the service and after sometime, you will be prompted to download the password protected file.
Weeny Free PDF Cutter
Although the main purpose of Weeny Free PDF Cutter is to cut and split PDF documents into multiple files but it has also got an option to password protect the PDF files. You can set Weeny Free PDF Cutter such that it does not split the resulting PDF file but password protects the document. You will need to enable password protection under Security settings.
Download Weeny Free PDF Cutter
I hope these tools will be beneficial for you and will help you password protect your sensitive PDF documents. If I have missed anything or you have a suggestion, please share it in the comments below.