Prevent an Office Document From Printing

R

rickbrownaz

Is there a way to prevent someone from printing an MS Office document? The
goal is to allow users to view the document, but not allow them to print it.
 
L

LVTravel

Any document that can be displayed can be printed by using a screen capture
program.

If you want them not to be able to click on the print button and print it
you should invest in a program that will create a PDF file and will security
protect it.

The program I use is PrimoPDF from http://www.primopdf.com/. It is free and
it's security can be set to disable printing, copying parts of the file,
etc..
 
J

Jay Freedman

rickbrownaz said:
Is there a way to prevent someone from printing an MS Office
document? The goal is to allow users to view the document, but not
allow them to print it.
Click to expand...

It's a hopeless quest. If anyone can see your document, they can copy it,
print it, edit it, whatever. The most you can do is make it a little more
difficult.

If this is just a case of "paper document may be out of date, only the
electronic copy is controlled", then put that statement in the footer of
every section, and apply good old-fashioned discipline to anyone who ignores
the warning.

If the people you're worried about are outside your control, the best (but
not very good) that you can do is to distribute only a PDF file that has
printing and copying locked out and a password applied. That still won't
prevent copying by a determined thief, but it will make them work for it.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.
 
R

rickbrownaz

Yes, I'm afraid you are correct. It would be a nice freature to put in MS
Office though.
 
M

Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

That option is available through Information Rights Management, a feature of Windows Server 2003. Install the server version and then the client versions and you can not only control who can print, but if the document can be edited, forwarded, etc.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, rickbrownaz asked:

| Is there a way to prevent someone from printing an MS Office
| document? The goal is to allow users to view the document, but not
| allow them to print it.
 
L

LVTravel

And there are many, many people out there using Office that don't have IRM
available to them since they don't have a true server system network.


That part about IRM is true, BUT the user may still do a screenshot and
print that.
 
B

Beth Melton

B

Beth Melton

If they are a client computer (one attempting to view an IRM restricted
document) then there are provisions for this scenario. Additionally, one can
use a Windows Live ID for authentication.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton

What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

LVTravel said:
And there are many, many people out there using Office that don't have IRM
available to them since they don't have a true server system network.


That part about IRM is true, BUT the user may still do a screenshot and
print that.
That option is available through Information Rights Management, a feature
of Windows Server 2003. Install the server version and then the client
versions and you can not only control who can print, but if the document
can be edited, forwarded, etc.
--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.
After furious head scratching, rickbrownaz asked:

| Is there a way to prevent someone from printing an MS Office
| document? The goal is to allow users to view the document, but not
| allow them to print it.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
L

LVTravel

In my original follow-up post, the creating computer is also probably not on
a system with a Windows Server 2003. I know that I at home, and also at
work, don't have networks running under Windows 2003 server. The server
systems at work are still running Win. 2000 Server and they do not have IRM
capability.


Beth Melton said:
If they are a client computer (one attempting to view an IRM restricted
document) then there are provisions for this scenario. Additionally, one
can use a Windows Live ID for authentication.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton

What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

LVTravel said:
And there are many, many people out there using Office that don't have
IRM available to them since they don't have a true server system network.


That part about IRM is true, BUT the user may still do a screenshot and
print that.
That option is available through Information Rights Management, a
feature of Windows Server 2003. Install the server version and then the
client versions and you can not only control who can print, but if the
document can be edited, forwarded, etc.
--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.
After furious head scratching, rickbrownaz asked:

| Is there a way to prevent someone from printing an MS Office
| document? The goal is to allow users to view the document, but not
| allow them to print it.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
L

LVTravel

And as a follow-up - from IRM area of MS web site:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA101029181033.aspx

"IRM can't prevent the following:

Content from being erased, stolen, or captured and transmitted by malicious
programs such as Trojan horses, keystroke loggers, and certain types of
spyware

Content from being lost or corrupted because of the actions of computer
viruses

Restricted content from being hand-copied or retyped from a display on a
recipient's screen

A recipient from taking a digital photograph of the restricted content
displayed on a screen

Restricted content from being copied by using third-party screen-capture
programs"


Note the last item. Back to what I said earlier, if it can be displayed, it
can be copied.


LVTravel said:
In my original follow-up post, the creating computer is also probably not
on a system with a Windows Server 2003. I know that I at home, and also
at work, don't have networks running under Windows 2003 server. The
server systems at work are still running Win. 2000 Server and they do not
have IRM capability.


Beth Melton said:
If they are a client computer (one attempting to view an IRM restricted
document) then there are provisions for this scenario. Additionally, one
can use a Windows Live ID for authentication.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton

What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

LVTravel said:
And there are many, many people out there using Office that don't have
IRM available to them since they don't have a true server system
network.


That part about IRM is true, BUT the user may still do a screenshot and
print that.

Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook] wrote:

That option is available through Information Rights Management, a
feature of Windows Server 2003. Install the server version and then
the client versions and you can not only control who can print, but if
the document can be edited, forwarded, etc.
--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.
After furious head scratching, rickbrownaz asked:

| Is there a way to prevent someone from printing an MS Office
| document? The goal is to allow users to view the document, but not
| allow them to print it.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
B

Beth Melton

I never disagreed with that point. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton

What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

LVTravel said:
And as a follow-up - from IRM area of MS web site:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA101029181033.aspx

"IRM can't prevent the following:

Content from being erased, stolen, or captured and transmitted by
malicious programs such as Trojan horses, keystroke loggers, and certain
types of spyware

Content from being lost or corrupted because of the actions of computer
viruses

Restricted content from being hand-copied or retyped from a display on a
recipient's screen

A recipient from taking a digital photograph of the restricted content
displayed on a screen

Restricted content from being copied by using third-party screen-capture
programs"


Note the last item. Back to what I said earlier, if it can be displayed,
it can be copied.


LVTravel said:
In my original follow-up post, the creating computer is also probably not
on a system with a Windows Server 2003. I know that I at home, and also
at work, don't have networks running under Windows 2003 server. The
server systems at work are still running Win. 2000 Server and they do not
have IRM capability.


Beth Melton said:
If they are a client computer (one attempting to view an IRM restricted
document) then there are provisions for this scenario. Additionally, one
can use a Windows Live ID for authentication.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton

What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

And there are many, many people out there using Office that don't have
IRM available to them since they don't have a true server system
network.


That part about IRM is true, BUT the user may still do a screenshot and
print that.

Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook] wrote:

That option is available through Information Rights Management, a
feature of Windows Server 2003. Install the server version and then
the client versions and you can not only control who can print, but if
the document can be edited, forwarded, etc.
--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.
After furious head scratching, rickbrownaz asked:

| Is there a way to prevent someone from printing an MS Office
| document? The goal is to allow users to view the document, but not
| allow them to print it.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
B

Beth Melton

From http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc179103.aspx

"Using IRM without a local RMS server

In a typical installation, Windows Server 2003 with Windows Rights
Management Services enables using IRM permissions with the 2007 Office
release. If an RMS server is not configured on the same domain with users,
Microsoft Windows Live ID can authenticate permission, instead of Active
Directory. Users must have access to the Internet to connect to the Windows
Live ID servers."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton

What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs
 
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