4
1
I've got a word document I'm trying to save to an uneditable, unselectable PDF file. Essentially, I'd like it to look like a JPEG, but in PDF format. I'm trying to avoid "printing to tiff, THEN printing to PDF." I'd prefer to go directly from Word to PDF.
Additionally, I don't want to add a Password or anything.
Does an option exist for this? Thanks!
Chheang Yang
Posted 2010-05-19T20:51:12.160
Reputation: 41
8
Use a print to PDF driver for windows. I use Cute PDF, myself. Once you have it installed, there should be a "print as image" option as you try to print. This will force it to print as a giant image, instead of text.
Jack M.
Posted 2010-05-19T20:51:12.160
Reputation: 3 133
Thanks for the answers. I tried cutepdf, but the image option is not available under printing preferences.
As for why, when it's an image, signatures and edits to statements are much more difficult to manipulate. The person would have to actually recreate my statement and match my font spacing and everything. I think the security is better w/ jpg. – Chheang Yang – 2010-05-24T23:03:27.393
2
Printing as a vector PDF file (or raster) will not increase the security of your PDF file. That PDF file can simply be imported into Photoshop, modified and reexported.
Digitally certifying your PDF will make sure it isn't modified without your authorization. If it is, the certification is rendered invalid and you can confront your client/supplier/whatever about it. Once certified, you can actually put restrictions on your PDF file.
Andrew Moore
Posted 2010-05-19T20:51:12.160
Reputation: 4 375
Thanks for the heads up. You can always put things into photoshop. Agreed.
Anyhow, back to the question at hand. Does anyone know how to create a PDF from word where the PDF is jpg-like? Text unselectable. I do not want to use security options. Thanks – Chheang Yang – 2010-05-25T11:30:13.003
2
You can do it in 2 steps. First print the doc using the "Microsoft Office Document Image Writer" driver. This creates a TIFF file. Then, open the TIFF with an imaging program (I like Irfanview) and print it using a PDF writer. Alternatively, with Irfanview you can just save it as a PDF. Here's how to install the MODI driver:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/982760
And Irfanview can be downloaded from http://www.irfanview.com/main_download_engl.htm
hdhondt
Posted 2010-05-19T20:51:12.160
Reputation: 3 244
Note that the "Microsoft Office Document Image Writer" driver comes as part of Office 2007 and earlier, so you won't need to use the additional install methods described in the first link here unless you're on 2010 or later. – Sam – 2015-05-06T06:19:56.197
1
Using this answer: https://askubuntu.com/a/50180/400409
pdftoppm input.pdf pageAAA -png
Again, using another answer: https://stackoverflow.com/a/8955465/1115187
convert pageAAA*.png ro-document.pdf
Both utilities pdftoppm, convert have a rich set of options, you can select page-numbers/quality and other stuff. And both were preinstalled on my Ubuntu.
maxkoryukov
Posted 2010-05-19T20:51:12.160
Reputation: 187
(1) Tested on Ubuntu not Windows and (2) it is not a one simple step; I wrote it like a note for myself – maxkoryukov – 2018-03-26T13:49:52.127
1Simple and best solution for Ubuntu! – Yaksha – 2018-04-02T14:02:51.090
@HughAllen OCR? If someone really wants data they can just type it in manually. Making something “uneditable” only delays the inevitable if someone wants that data. – JakeGould – 2015-03-29T05:00:51.190
What version of Word are you using? – heavyd – 2010-05-19T21:13:22.973
4Why would you want to do this? If they want to recover the text they can always use OCR - you're just bloating the file and reducing the quality for no good reason. – Hugh Allen – 2010-05-20T06:23:19.100
Not exactly what the OP was talking about, but one reason I've had to do this is because of somewhat evil Word/PDF files intended for print only. I work with several venders whose invoices will convert to PDF but will leave all of the data fields blank (only the formatting appears). If you print as an image into a PDF, then all the data stays intact. – Jack M. – 2010-05-20T16:24:45.917