Techy Tuesday on Thursday: How to Flatten Images & Secure Your PDF files

UPDATE FOR MAC USERS: 11/17/2012 Scroll to the bottom of the tutorial where I have placed a link for all of you. Sorry this was not in the tutorial before (-;
Hi everyone!  There have been many inquiries on Facebook and in the TPT forums regarding the best way to secure images and content within a PDF file. You might be surprised, but many people were NOT aware that converting a document to a PDF does not automatically secure the content in the file...WOAH!!! There are extra steps you need to follow to make sure your files are secure. This tutorial also includes directions for taking a few EXTRA steps to make sure the images (clip art, borders, graphics) are secure in your files. 
Many artists require that the images are "flattened" in a SECURED PDF file. However, most do not explain what it means to "flatten" the images or offer directions as to how to do this....but today.....you will become an expert....hahahaha..
Actually, I am just hoping you can understand my directions..hehehehe
You can view the images below and/or download the PDF file to save directly from my blog...WOWEE!!

Here we go:

Programs I used in this tutorial:

Adobe Acrobat X Pro

Windows OS (Operating System): Win 7

Microsoft Office (PowerPoint) 2010

  

This tutorial will help you learn how to add the most efficient security to your published files. More specifically, I will show you how to "flatten" images to prevent people from extracting (copying & pasting) images from the digital files you create.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions regarding this tutorial or you would like to offer suggestions to improve this tutorial.

3amteacher@gmail.com

Step One:

Launch Microsoft PowerPoint and start a NEW project.

For this tutorial I created a simple cover page with text and images. If you have already created a PowerPoint document, you can skip to the step that applies to you.

Here is the finished slide BEFORE saving. None of the images have been flattened and nothing is secure……yet.

Step 2: Saving the finished PowerPoint

Save your document as you normally would; creating a PPT version of your original file.

You want to save the original as a PPT in case you need to make changes to your file in the future.

Many of you might be used to saving your file and then immediately converting the file to a PDF. If I convert my PPT file to a PDF without taking any other steps (as I did in the picture to the right), you will see that I am still able to highlight, copy, and paste the individual images within the file. You might be shocked to discover that saving your document as a PDF does NOT secure the content. You must take extra steps to secure the content in your file.

Step 3: Saving Your PPT as an Image

Before converting your saved PPT to a PDF, we are going to “flatten” the images by saving each slide as an individual PNG or JPEG image. You cannot edit the flattened image files. I choose to save as a PNG, but you can choose to save your file as a JPEG.

Save PPT as an Image:

Go to FILE>SAVE AS

Once the window pops up, you will use the drop down menu at the bottom labeled: SAVE AS TYPE, and choose to save the file as a PNG (Portable Network Graphic) or JPEG.

Once you have chosen the file type, click save. You might be prompted to choose to save the current slide or all of the slides in the file. If you want to use all of the slides, then choose to save each slide as an individual PNG image. The images will now be saved in the place you designated on your computer or flash drive.

Step 4: Creating a Secure PDF from your flattened image files

Now that you have saved each slide as an individual image file, I will show you how to convert the images to a single PDF file.

Open the file on your computer or flash drive that contains the image files you just created. As you can see (to the top right), I have only one image saved, since I only had one slide in my file.

To create a PDF using the image, I am going to RIGHT CLICK on the file and choose to

CONVERT IMAGE TO A PDF

If you have more than one image to convert, highlight (IN ORDER) the needed files, RIGHT CLICK and choose to COMBINE SUPPORTED FILES IN ACROBAT (See bottom right picture)

In this window, you can add more files or remove files you do not want in the PDF. Choose to COMBINE FILES and your images will be converted to a PDF.

Quick Note:  

Sometimes, the images that you saved as a PDF will not convert in the correct order. Do NOT panic. All you need to do is open the bookmark preview in Adobe (right panel). Once opened, you will see thumbnails of each page in your pdf. Just select and drag the thumbnails and drop them in the correct order. The page number will change automatically once it is dropped in another position.

Step 5: Securing the PDF

You have not added security yet….

Open the PDF if it is not already.

Now that you have your PDF open, you can click on any area and notice that the entire page will be highlighted, rather than any one image. You now have “flattened” the images within a PDF file; however, you have not secured your PDF. If we leave the file as is, the buyer will still be able to copy and paste the entire page.

The only way one could “steal” images after flattening would be to take a screenshot of the image; however, the quality will be terrible and the image will not be by itself (see bottom right picture). The thief will have to do quite a lot of editing in a design program to get the image by itself.

Next, I will show you how to add security to your PDF to prevent anyone from copying the pages.

Step 5 Continued

Adding Security Options to your PDF

Click on the TOOLS tab located on the top right menu bar of your Adobe file.

Select and click the PROTECTION tab, ENCRYPT, & choose to Encrypt with a password.

Choose YES to change the security setting if prompted with this question

You will get a pop-up window with options for securing your file.

Choose your encryption settings: Add a Password

Make sure to UN-CHECK the first box to enter a password. This option prevents anyone from opening the file.

Step 5 Continued

Adding Security Options to your PDF

Check the box to restrict editing and then customize your settings.

Create a PASSWORD. 

To get a strong password setting make sure your password includes an uppercase letter and a number.

Choose OKAY once you have finished creating your password. 

You will be prompted to enter the password a second time before the window closes. Now, save your PDF and you have created a secured PDF file!

Congratulations!!! You did it!!!

I really do hope this helps some of you out and helps to secure your digital files! Click the download button save/print a copy of this tutorial.
Thank you for visiting! Come back and check out my post tomorrow to see what I post for FREEBIE Friday!! I was determined to be prepared this time and participate in the fun!!
The GOLDEN ticket for Mac users:
I noticed that many of you who read my blog are actually Mac users and I always feel so bad that I can't offer you the same help...so....as usual, I don't give up until I learn..HA!!
I found a helpful tutorial and had a friend "test" it out before sharing with all of you. For those of you using PAGES in Mac, there is a way to save your pages as a "grouped" JPEG image. 
Here is the Tutorial I found CLICK HERE Save this site in a reference journal, so that you can refer back to this site when you need help. I can tell you that YOU DO NOT WANT to use the help forums on the APPLE site!!!! They are filled with tons of information from many people that have NO CLUE what they are talking about. There may be forums in there that are helpful, but I did not even see one. In fact, I was so irritated about some of the advice people were giving that I had to sign in and comment - I couldn't resist!! I left the link to the correct tutorial in that forum because the people who actually needed help were being prompted to do things that caused more frustration! People REALLY should not comment in forums like that UNLESS they do know what they are doing and they are actually prepared to provide a step by step solution. It drives me bonkers when people just decide to continually add their 2 cents, because it causes far more harm than good. 
I also received some input from a friend - Tracee Orman, who  is just some small time blogger and seller on TPT...bwahahahaha - yeah right!...
Here is what she had to say...(referring to using Pages on a MAC) You can group every object & text box as a single item, then do the "Arrange" > "Lock" to completely secure it. Just remember when grouping objects, you can't make changes (like adding a drop shadow) after it is grouped together.

Thank you for the info Tracee!! Please check out her blog (if you haven't already); however, please refer to the tutorial that I listed above if you have questions. I would hate to have her get a ton of emails from people saying, "The 3AM Teacher sent me to you to get help with using Pages"...I would feel horrible....truly.... However, I did make sure it was okay for me to include her knowledge before posting this...(-;

For you MAC users, please go through the tutorial and let me know what you think and if it was helpful or not...(-;