I was in a predicament. I needed to email an
Adobe PDF file containing sensitive information but had no way of password protecting the data. To do this I would need a full blown version of Adobe Acrobat, which I didn't have. The free and widely used
Adobe Reader does not allow users to secure PDF files. So I went on a search. There had to be a way and there is!
Follow me!
I was explaining these steps to my wife when I was confronted with the wide-eyed stare often accompanying wild animals at night when they discover oncoming headlights. That's when I got the idea to formalize these steps using screen shots for those who are visually minded. Forgive the fact that I am relegated to using Windows 2000, these pics should get you into the ball park.
The first thing you will need to do is open up a new MS Windows document. Next, click on "insert" from the menu bar and select "Object" from the drop down list. [Below]
An 'Object' dialog box will open asking you what you want to insert. Select
Adobe Acrobat Document from the top of the list. Also check the '
display as icon' box. [See Below]
Click on "OK" and a file browser window will open where you can then navigate to the PDF document you want to insert. After you have selected your PDF 'object' file, you will see the default PDF icon and file name at the top of the Word page. Now it's time to Save your new Word Document.
When the "Save As" dialog box opens there will be a drop down list under "Tools" where you will need to choose "Security Options" [See Below]
Another dialog box named "
Security" will open and all you have to do is plug in your password for file encryption. [See Below] After clicking "
OK" you will be taken back to the
Save As dialog window where you can now create your Word document file name and location.
Now that you have saved your new password protected Word document with the included PDF file, you can attach it to an email and feel confident that prying eyes won't uncover sensitive data.
One more thing:
Don't send the password in the same email as the attached file! Always send a secondary email including the pass key for the intended user.
You can test this process by emailing yourself the file and making sure the Word Document prompts for a password, followed by double clicking the PDF icon to make sure everything is accessible.
