How to Encrypt & Password Protect a PDF using Java (and set restricted permissions)

Whether you’re looking to share an HTML web page screenshot, a single PowerPoint slide, or a DocX across systems, converting that file to PDF assures you that the viewer on the receiving end will be able to open your document no matter what OS they’re on. However, if your easily-shared document contains sensitive information that shouldn’t be viewed outside of a narrow scope of stakeholders, it’s important to set restrictions on that PDF. With the inclusion of our PDF Encryption API, you can harness an efficient cloud service to streamline the process of encrypting, setting a password for and restricting permissions for any PDF document. Customizable restrictions include options to disallow printing, copying content, editing, and more.

To help you structure your API call in Java, we’ve provided ready-to-run code examples below.

First, install maven, beginning with adding the following reference to the pom.xml repository:

<repositories>
    <repository>
        <id>jitpack.io</id>
        <url>https://jitpack.io</url>
    </repository>
</repositories>

Then, add the following reference to the pom.xml dependency:

<dependencies>
<dependency>
    <groupId>com.github.Cloudmersive</groupId>
    <artifactId>Cloudmersive.APIClient.Java</artifactId>
    <version>v4.25</version>
</dependency>
</dependencies>

Now it’s time to include the import classes:

// Import classes:
//import com.cloudmersive.client.invoker.ApiClient;
//import com.cloudmersive.client.invoker.ApiException;
//import com.cloudmersive.client.invoker.Configuration;
//import com.cloudmersive.client.invoker.auth.*;
//import com.cloudmersive.client.EditPdfApi;

Next, copy the code block below, and satisfy the required parameters (which includes adding your API key; obtainable by registering a free account on our website). Below the required parameters, you can set Booleans to customize PDF restrictions:

// Import classes:
//import com.cloudmersive.client.invoker.ApiClient;
//import com.cloudmersive.client.invoker.ApiException;
//import com.cloudmersive.client.invoker.Configuration;
//import com.cloudmersive.client.invoker.auth.*;
//import com.cloudmersive.client.EditPdfApi;
ApiClient defaultClient = Configuration.getDefaultApiClient();
// Configure API key authorization: Apikey
ApiKeyAuth Apikey = (ApiKeyAuth) defaultClient.getAuthentication("Apikey");
Apikey.setApiKey("YOUR API KEY");
// Uncomment the following line to set a prefix for the API key, e.g. "Token" (defaults to null)
//Apikey.setApiKeyPrefix("Token");
EditPdfApi apiInstance = new EditPdfApi();
String ownerPassword = "ownerPassword_example"; // String | Password of a owner (creator/editor) of the PDF file (required)
String userPassword = "userPassword_example"; // String | Password of a user (reader) of the PDF file (optional)
File inputFile = new File("/path/to/inputfile"); // File | Input file to perform the operation on.
String encryptionKeyLength = "encryptionKeyLength_example"; // String | Possible values are \"128\" (128-bit RC4 encryption) and \"256\" (256-bit AES encryption).  Default is 256.
Boolean allowPrinting = true; // Boolean | Set to false to disable printing through DRM.  Default is true.
Boolean allowDocumentAssembly = true; // Boolean | Set to false to disable document assembly through DRM.  Default is true.
Boolean allowContentExtraction = true; // Boolean | Set to false to disable copying/extracting content out of the PDF through DRM.  Default is true.
Boolean allowFormFilling = true; // Boolean | Set to false to disable filling out form fields in the PDF through DRM.  Default is true.
Boolean allowEditing = true; // Boolean | Set to false to disable editing in the PDF through DRM (making the PDF read-only).  Default is true.
Boolean allowAnnotations = true; // Boolean | Set to false to disable annotations and editing of annotations in the PDF through DRM.  Default is true.
Boolean allowDegradedPrinting = true; // Boolean | Set to false to disable degraded printing of the PDF through DRM.  Default is true.
try {
    byte[] result = apiInstance.editPdfSetPermissions(ownerPassword, userPassword, inputFile, encryptionKeyLength, allowPrinting, allowDocumentAssembly, allowContentExtraction, allowFormFilling, allowEditing, allowAnnotations, allowDegradedPrinting);
    System.out.println(result);
} catch (ApiException e) {
    System.err.println("Exception when calling EditPdfApi#editPdfSetPermissions");
    e.printStackTrace();
}

No more code required — you’re all done.