CIB pdf toolbox technical guide (EN)

7. Passwords and encryption with PDFs

7.1. How does the CIB pdf toolbox behave with password protection?

The table below gives an overview of how the CIB pdf toolbox processes password-protected PDF files. Using the example of a procedure for joining 2 PDF files (CIB pdf join), all possible variants are explained.

Main file = First file specified at InputFilename.

 

Attached file does not have any password.

Attached file has an owner password.

Attached file has owner and user password.

Main file has no password.

Output file has no password.

Output file has the password in the attached file.

Output file has the password in the attached file.

Main file has an owner password.

Output file has the owner password of the main file.

Output file has owner password of the main file.

Output file has owner password of the main file.

Main file has owner and user password.

Output file has owner and user password of the main file.

Output file has owner and user password of the main file.

Output file has owner and user password of the main file.


To sum up, it can be said that:

If several files are joined togheter and several of them are password protected, the first password found will always be used for the output file.

The fact whether the output file is encrypted and which encryption algorithm is used for this will be decided by the same logic as described in the table above for the password.

⚠️ If the output document should get a new, individual password protection or should be encrypted differently, the properties „OutputOwnerPassword“ and/or „OutputUserPassword“ have to be set to CIB pdf/join.