Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional

Create a user security policy

You can create three types of security policies: password security (to password-protect documents), certificate security (to encrypt documents for a list of recipients), and Adobe LiveCycle Policy Server policies. Creating policies for password and certificate security lets you reuse the same security settings for a set of PDFs without having to change security settings for each. The policies for password and certificate security are stored on the local computer.

When you create a user security policy using Adobe LiveCycle Policy Server, the policy is stored on a server, letting you audit actions and change security settings dynamically. You can use Adobe LiveCycle Policy Server if your company has licensed the software and made it available to you.

Create a password policy

  1. Choose Advanced > Security > Manage Security Policies.
  2. Click New.
  3. Select Use Passwords, and then click Next.
  4. Type a name and description for the policy, do one of the following, and then click Next:

    • If you want to specify passwords and restrictions whenever you apply this policy to a document, deselect Save Passwords With The Policy.

    • If you want to save passwords and restriction settings with the policy, select Save Passwords With The Policy.

  5. Specify a compatibility setting and password options. If you selected Save Passwords With The Policy, specify the password and restrictions. Click Next.
  6. Review the policy details, and then click Finish.

Create a certificate policy

  1. Choose Advanced > Security > Manage Security Policies.
  2. Click New.
  3. Select Use Public Key Certificates, and then click Next.
  4. Type a name and description for the policy, and specify the document components to encrypt.
  5. If you want to specify recipients whenever you apply this policy to a document, select Ask For Recipients When Applying This Policy, and click Next.
  6. If Ask For Recipients When Applying This Policy is not selected, specify recipients by selecting the digital IDs you want to use to encrypt the document (including your own digital ID), and click Next.
  7. Click Finish.

Create a user policy with Adobe LiveCycle Policy Server

When you create a user policy using the Adobe LiveCycle Policy Server, you’re redirected to the Adobe LiveCycle Policy Server web page.

  1. Choose Advanced > Security > Manage Security Policies.
  2. Click New.
  3. Select Use The Adobe LiveCycle Policy Server, and click Next.
  4. On the Adobe LiveCycle Policy Server web page, click Policies, and then click New.
  5. Type a name and description, set the validity period, and any other options.
  6. Select the users or groups, set permissions for them, and click OK.
  7. Specify the document components you want to encrypt, and whether you want a watermark.
  8. When you’re done, click Save at the top of the page.