Protect PDFs in Windows using CLI

readme.md

Password protect PDF files from terminal in Windows

1. Install QPDF (http://qpdf.sourceforge.net/)

choco install qpdf

2. Encrypt single PDF file (http://qpdf.sourceforge.net/files/qpdf-manual.html#ref.encryption-options)

Default restrictions

qpdf --encrypt USER_PASSWORD_HERE OWNER_PASSWORD_HERE -- input.pdf input_encrypted.pdf

Custom restrictions

qpdf --encrypt USER_PASSWORD_HERE OWNER_PASSWORD_HERE -modify=none -modify-other=n -extract=n -annotate=n -print=low -- input.pdf input_encrypted.pdf