Remove protection from PDF to perform OCR

[philjv]

Support request for PDF-Xchange PRO Editor Plus Version: 10.1.2, build 382 (Enhanced OCR) software.

Got a secured password protected PDF (likely created with Adobe) which blocks performing OCR. What is the best way to remove the protection to perform OCR?

Please support.

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello philjv,

You would need to contact the author of the document and request a non-protected copy.
If the author wants the file protected - we can not remove the protections for you even if it to do OCR on that file, sorry.

Kind regards,
Stefan

[Dan_1]

What if you printed the protected document using "Microsoft Print to PDF" to generate a new PDF, and then run OCR against the new PDF?

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, Dan_1

Often such permissions would prevent Printing as well, and generally speaking we cannot offer assistance with circumventing security methods.

It is something you could try, but note the process would also strip other document data, like bookmarks and links which may be present. Printing a PDF to PDF is generally not advisable due to the potential data loss involved in the back and forth conversion process.

Kind regards,