Adobe Acrobat Ridiculous Document Protection – How to prevent an image from being copied from a PROTECTED document? I have added images to a PDF and I have protected that PDF with password, so the only think, in theory, that I have authorized is printing.
Even so I open that PDF on Preview, click on any image, CMD C and CMD and I can copy that image easily.
I know that anyone can take a screnshot of that document and copy the images, but here is the point. The images are irregular and have transparency and they are over a background with an irregular pattern, so, if someone takes a screenshot will have a hell of a job to separate the stolen image from the background, so it can be used on other contexts. But if the image can be selected on Preview, copied and pasted, stealing the images are a piece of cake.
Yes, I have closed and opened the document, after protecting it. I am aware of this bug.
What kind of protection is this offered by Adobe Acrobat?
You shouldn't rely on that feature for serious protection of your document. It is simply not possible to restrict access to the image by third party software if you still want the user to be able to view it. I.e. it is not really a bug in Preview, it is a limitation in what's actually possible for Adobe to enforce.
You could take a screenshot of the final, composed product and use that in the PDF instead of your original material. That way the image will be blended together with the rest and cannot as easily be separated again.