June 20th, 2008
Weekend Gadget Guidance: Unlock PDF copy protection, free
Ever get a PDF from the boss or HR that’s copy-protected for no reason?
Often, it’s more trouble than it’s worth.
A neat, free little Windows utility by way of gHacks might be of service. Freeware PDF Unlocker can help unlock the copy/paste and editing restrictions on a PDF.
Just drag a copy-protected PDF over PDF Unlocker’s icon, and a new, unprotected copy is created. Sure, it won’t do everything that costly commercial packages do, but it can help in a quick fix in the office or at home.
Users can also strip PDF files of passwords needed to open and read them, but curiously, you need the password to do so. (Screenshot courtesy Lifehacker)
Andrew J. Nusca is an associate editor for ZDNet and SmartPlanet.
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