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PDF.co API

PDF Password And Security

Explore Samples

Add password and security limitations to PDF or remove existing limits and password from existing PDF files.

Available Methods

[POST] /pdf/security/add

Attributes
url required
URL to the source file. Supports links from Google Drive, Dropbox and from built-in PDF.co files storage.

For uploading files via API please check Files Upload section.

If you are randomly getting a Too Many Requests or Access Denied error for your input URL, Please try to add cache: to enable built-in URL caching.

You can also encrypt data for output files and decrypt data input files with user-controlled data encryption to learn more.
ownerPassword required
The main owner password that is used for document encryption and for setting/removing restrictions.
userPassword optional
The optional user password will be asked for viewing and printing document.
encryptionAlgorithm optional
Encryption algorithm. Valid values: RC4_40bit, RC4_128bit, AES_128bit, AES_256bit. AES_128bit or higher is recommended.
allowAccessibilitySupport optional
Allow or prohibit content extraction for accessibility needs. true/false. Note: this restriction applies when userPassword (if any) is entered. This restriction does not apply if the user enters Owner Password.
allowAssemblyDocument optional
Allow or prohibit assembling the document. true/false. Note: this restriction applies when userPassword (if any) is entered. This restriction does not apply if the user enters Owner Password.
allowPrintDocument true/false
Allow or prohibit printing PDF document.
Note: this restriction applies when userPassword (if any) is entered. This restriction does not apply if the user enters Owner Password.
allowFillForms true/false
Allow or prohibit the filling of interactive form fields (including signature fields) in the PDF documents.
Note: this restriction applies when userPassword (if any) is entered. This restriction does not apply if the user enters Owner Password.
allowModifyDocument true/false
Allow or prohibit modification of PDF document.
Note: this restriction applies when userPassword (if any) is entered. This restriction does not apply if the user enters Owner Password.
allowContentExtraction true/false
Allow or prohibit copying content from PDF document.
Note: this restriction applies when userPassword (if any) is entered. This restriction does not apply if the user enters Owner Password.
allowModifyAnnotations true/false
Allow or prohibit interacting with text annotations and forms in PDF document.
Note: this restriction applies when userPassword (if any) is entered. This restriction does not apply if the user enters Owner Password.
printQuality optional
Allowed printing quality. Valid values: HighResolution, LowResolution.
Note: this restriction applies when userPassword (if any) is entered. This restriction does not apply if the user enters Owner Password.
async optional
Runs processing asynchronously and returns JobId that you may use with /job/check to check the state of the processing (possible states: working, failed, aborted and success). Must be one of: true, or false.
name optional
File name for the generated output.
expiration optional
Output link expiration in minutes. The default is 60 (i.e. 60 minutes or 1 hour). After this delay generated output file(s) (if any) will be auto-removed from PDF.co temporary files storage.
Max allowed expiration period depends on your current subscription plan. To store permanent input files (e.g. re-usable images, pdf, documents), please use PDF.co built-in Files Storage instead.
profiles optional
Use this parameter to set additional configurations for fine-tuning and extra options. Data must need to be in a “string” format. Explore PDF.co knowledgebase for profile examples.
  • Method: POST
  • URL: /v1/pdf/security/add

Query parameters

No query parameters accepted.

Body payload

{
    "url": "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pdf-merge/sample1.pdf",
    "ownerPassword": "12345",
    "userPassword": "54321",
    "EncryptionAlgorithm": "AES_128bit",
    "AllowPrintDocument": false,
    "AllowFillForms": false,
    "AllowModifyDocument": false,
    "AllowContentExtraction": false,
    "AllowModifyAnnotations": false,
    "PrintQuality": "LowResolution",
    "name": "output-protected.pdf",
    "async": false
}

Example responses

/pdf/security/add
{
    "url": "https://pdf-temp-files.s3.amazonaws.com/eaa441ade38548b8a3a96d8014c4f463/sample1.pdf",
    "pageCount": 1,
    "error": false,
    "status": 200,
    "name": "sample1.pdf",
    "remainingCredits": 616208,
    "credits": 14
}

Code Snippet

CURL
curl --location --request POST 'https://api.pdf.co/v1/pdf/security/add' \
--header 'x-api-key: ' \
--data-raw '{
    "url": "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pdf-merge/sample1.pdf",
    "ownerPassword": "12345",
    "userPassword": "54321",
    "EncryptionAlgorithm": "AES_128bit",
    "AllowPrintDocument": false,
    "AllowFillForms": false,
    "AllowModifyDocument": false,
    "AllowContentExtraction": false,
    "AllowModifyAnnotations": false,
    "PrintQuality": "LowResolution",
    "name": "output-protected.pdf",
    "async": false
}'

[POST] /pdf/security/remove

Attributes
url required
URL to the source file. Supports links from Google Drive, Dropbox and from built-in PDF.co files storage.

For uploading files via API please check Files Upload section.

If you are randomly getting a Too Many Requests or Access Denied error for your input URL, Please try to add cache: to enable built-in URL caching.

You can also encrypt data for output files and decrypt data input files with user-controlled data encryption to learn more.
password required
The owner/user password to open files and remove security features.
async optional
Runs processing asynchronously and returns JobId that you may use with /job/check to check the state of the processing (possible states: working, failed, aborted and success). Must be one of: true, or false.
name optional
File name for the generated output.
expiration optional
Output link expiration in minutes. The default is 60 (i.e. 60 minutes or 1 hour). After this delay generated output file(s) (if any) will be auto-removed from PDF.co temporary files storage.
Max allowed expiration period depends on your current subscription plan. To store permanent input files (e.g. re-usable images, pdf, documents), please use PDF.co built-in Files Storage instead.
profiles optional
Use this parameter to set additional configurations for fine-tuning and extra options. Data must need to be in a “string” format. Explore PDF.co knowledgebase for profile examples.
  • Method: POST
  • URL: /v1/pdf/security/remove

Query parameters

No query parameters accepted.

Body payload

{
    "url": "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pdf-security/ProtectedPDFFile.pdf",
    "password": "admin@123",
    "name": "unprotected",
    "async": false
}

Example responses

/pdf/security/remove
{
    "url": "https://pdf-temp-files.s3.amazonaws.com/9f2a754f76db46ac93781b3d2c6694c3/ProtectedPDFFile.pdf",
    "pageCount": 1,
    "error": false,
    "status": 200,
    "name": "ProtectedPDFFile.pdf",
    "remainingCredits": 616187,
    "credits": 21
}

Code Snippet

CURL
curl --location --request POST 'https://api.pdf.co/v1/pdf/security/remove' \
--header 'x-api-key: ' \
--data-raw '{
    "url": "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pdf-security/ProtectedPDFFile.pdf",
    "password": "admin@123",
    "name": "unprotected",
    "async": false
}'

Samples