Creating a document that is read only

[Joe]

Is there a way to create a document then save it where it is read only once sent off to someone in an email.
Thanks,
Joe

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

"Password to modify" (Tools | Options | Security) will accomplish this.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
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Is there a way to create a document then save it where it is read only

once sent off to someone in an email.

 

[Charles Kenyon]

My personal preference is to protect for forms. But then if I really want to
protect it, I print it as a pdf file.
--

Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory:
<URL: http://addbalance.com/word/index.htm>

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide)
<URL: http://addbalance.com/usersguide/index.htm>

See also the MVP FAQ: <URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/> which is awesome!
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[Joe]

Thanks for your reply. Suzanne, I found tools,options,save, then password for modify. Is that what you are reffering to?
if so how secure is it.
Charles, also thank you for your reply, but I don't follow what you mean by 'protect for form' is that a seperate product?
and are you saying if I save the document in pdf format it could not be modified?

Thanks,
Joe

 

[Jay Freedman]

Hi, Joe,

In general, the security of any document -- in any program, on any
computer -- is fair to poor. If a person can see the document on their
computer, and they're determined to make an altered copy, they may be able
to circumvent your "security" by at least one of these methods:

- Inserting your document into an unprotected one and altering that.
- Copying your text and pasting it into a less restrictive program.
- Printing your document, scanning it into an Optical Character Recognition
program that creates an unprotected document, and altering that.
- Reading your document and retyping it with changes.

The only way to secure the document completely is to prevent such a person
from ever seeing it.

Charles's suggestion involves going to Tools > Protect Document and
selecting "Protect for forms". This is no more secure than other methods.

If you create a pdf file from your document (using Adobe Acrobat or a
similar program), you can set options that will prevent the average user
from printing it or using the mouse and clipboard to make a copy of it.
However, there are programs that will (more or less successfully) convert
the pdf file back into an unprotected Word file. Also, there is still the
read-and-retype method.

The lengths to which you must go to protect your document depend on how
paranoid you are. In the worst case, don't use any electronic storage
method, and be careful about who can get and read your document. Otherwise,
be reasonable.

 

[Charles Kenyon]

Hi Jay,

To me, it is more secure than the other methods - barely - in that copy and
paste isn't available. Read-only doesn't prevent this. I know that insertion
into another doc gets around forms protection in about 1 minute but most
users aren't aware of that method. As you said very eloquently, if the
person can read it, he/she can retype it and make changes.

..pdf can be made so that it can't be copied or printed. I expect there are
or soon will be cracks available for that as well.
--

Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory:
<URL: http://addbalance.com/word/index.htm>

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide)
<URL: http://addbalance.com/usersguide/index.htm>

See also the MVP FAQ: <URL: http://www.mvps.org/word/> which is awesome!
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