Generally, publishers of written content in digital formats have used digital rights management (DRM) solutions to protect their content from being ripped off and distributed illegitimately to non-paying and unauthorized readers. Previously, DRM has long been considered an annoyance by the document’s readers, which includes individuals reading from the ubiquitous PDF format, simply because often the PDF DRM solution has made the document inaccessible or requires the reader to download specific viewing software.
However, that has all transformed with the brand new technology that’s available today! But many publishers have no idea what to look for in a PDF DRM solution which makes their documents both secure and easy for readers to access. So the question is, what makes a great PDF DRM solution?
Number One: Flexible Document Security Features
It’s essential to have the ability to pick and choose diverse security features for a document based on who will be looking at it, exactly what content it includes, and how it will end up being distributed. For example, if you are sending out a document that is going to be read by only one individual because it includes their sensitive financial information, then you should probably only allow it to be read on one computer. As opposed to, if you are distributing a time-sensitive report with info which will be updated frequently, then you’ll want to permit readers to have access to it on multiple computers and set the amount of time the document can be seen to be a short period of time.
Number Two: Dynamic Security Settings
Being able to change or revoke reader access permissions after a document has been distributed, becomes very important when you, the publisher, needs to stop the distribution and accessibility of your content completely. If you learn that one of the readers is providing their document login credentials to additional, unauthorized, people, you’ll be able to revoke that readers’ access permissions, irregardless of how often they have opened the document.
Number Three: Seamless Reader Access
To be able to solve the age old DRM issue of making it too challenging for the end user to access protected documents, it is vital to employ a PDF DRM solution that presents no additional stress on authorized readers attempting to access content. Readers don’t want to download specific plug-ins or software to access your document, nor do they wish to go through an elaborate and time-consuming login process. The more challenging it is for readers to access your document, the much more likely that they’ll experience obstacles requiring your help. Decrease your support costs with a solution that enables readers to access your PDF using Adobe Reader, since it comes pre-installed on most computers.
So when searching for a PDF DRM solution, keep these three ideas in mind, simply because it’ll make it easier for:
- Your readers to access your PDF content
- You to manage document access rights
- You to control who reads your PDF content
Start protecting your PDF documents today!