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I am trying to fill out some docs, but the provided PDFs are "SECURED", meaning I can't use FoxIt's typewriter tools.

Is there any way to remove the security?

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4 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

I used to remove passwords in the past; don't know if that's the same.

But in any case, I cannot try it out on the machine I'm writing this from, since there is neither a PDF printer in here, nor any of the readers. So all this is on a best-of-wishes basis. Try some of the softwares mentioned here (link to forum dealing with the subject).

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Unfortunately that tool simply removes passwords. – AngryHacker Aug 22 '10 at 17:46
@AngryHacker - what tool specifically? There are several mentioned there. – ldigas Aug 22 '10 at 18:10
There are also some (as mentioned by #22 Guest_bi-ik_* ) ways mentioned of removing the "secured". – ldigas Aug 22 '10 at 18:11
Hmmm, I'll give that a shot. Thank you. Interesting approach. – AngryHacker Aug 22 '10 at 18:26
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up vote 7 down vote

Easy!

  1. From the full version of Acrobat (I used v9.3), select "File..Export..Postscript..Postscript". This creates a ".ps" file.
  2. Click on the .ps file, it converts it back to pdf automatically with Acrobat distiller.
  3. You now have a perfect copy of the original file, minus any signatures, restrictions on editing, etc.

I needed this technique fix the pdf file so it would display on my Kindle DX, via the "Advanced..Preflight" menu. This method worked perfectly on a file that had resisted all attempts by the four major utilities that offer to remove restrictions on pdf files (i.e. A-PDF, pdftk, Kernel PDF, UnrestrictPDF) .

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Nope, this didn't work for me... Got this error: This PostScript file was created from an encrypted PDF file. Redistilling encrypted PDF is not permitted. Looks like they caught up with this trick. – Jon Apr 27 at 13:03
This site unlocked a PDF for me. pdfunlock.com – Jon Apr 27 at 13:10
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up vote 1 down vote

Analog conversion. Print and re-scan.

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Hmmmm ... even if you wanted to go that way, isn't it easier to just "Print to PDF" from the full version of Acrobat? However, this ruins the margins, so you get a perfect conversion if you export to Postscript, then reimport to pdf (see my answer below)? – Gravitas Sep 3 '10 at 8:58
@gravitas That's only easier if you've paid for the full version of Acrobat, as the questioner is talking about FoxIt I'd assume they haven't got Acrobat Pro. – GAThrawn Sep 3 '10 at 12:07
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up vote 0 down vote
  1. Print to a PostScript (PS) printer (where the printer's port is set to print to file, not to the printer -- or check the "Print to file" option in the Print dialog)

  2. Edit the resulting .ps file and remove:

    mark currentfile eexec
54dc5232e897cbaaa7584b7da7c23a6c59e7451851159cdbf40334cc2600
...
cleartomark

  3. Save and distill the .ps file

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protected by nhinkle♦ Jul 24 '11 at 19:50

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