Which namespace and assembly contain PdfSecuritySettings?

PdfSecuritySettings is in the IronPdf.Security namespace, shipped in IronPdf.dll. It derives from PdfClientAccessor.

What methods are available on PdfSecuritySettings?

Common methods include MakePdfDocumentReadOnly, RemovePasswordsAndEncryption. Use these on an instance to perform the corresponding IronPDF operation in C#.

Class PdfSecuritySettings

Q: What is the PdfSecuritySettings class used for in C#?

PdfSecuritySettings is the IronPDF class that enterprise-grade PDF security: PDF.SecuritySettings.MakePdfDocumentReadOnly("owner123") Control passwords, 128-bit encryption, permissions for print/copy/edit. It is part of the IronPdf.Security namespace and is used through the IronPDF C# API.

Q: What are the key properties of PdfSecuritySettings?

Properties commonly used on PdfSecuritySettings include AllowUserAnnotations, AllowUserCopyPasteContent, AllowUserCopyPasteContentForAccessibility, AllowUserEdits. Each property configures one aspect of the PDF security surface exposed by the class.

Enterprise-grade PDF security: pdf.SecuritySettings.MakePdfDocumentReadOnly("owner123") Control passwords, 128-bit encryption, permissions for print/copy/edit. Essential for legal, financial, and government documents. Used via PdfDocument.SecuritySettings property.

Inheritance

System.Object

PdfClientAccessor

PdfSecuritySettings

Namespace: IronPdf.Security

Assembly: IronPdf.dll

Syntax

public class PdfSecuritySettings : PdfClientAccessor

PdfSecuritySettings is what IronPDF C# code uses for PDF security. It represents enterprise-grade PDF security: PDF.SecuritySettings.MakePdfDocumentReadOnly("owner123") Control passwords, 128-bit encryption, permissions for print/copy/edit.

PdfSecuritySettings matters when an application needs to configure or invoke PDF security from C# code. The class encapsulates the related options and behavior in a single object that is set up once and reused across render or processing calls. Typical scenarios include batch generation pipelines, templated document workflows, and integration with existing C# document services.

To use PdfSecuritySettings, instantiate or obtain it from the relevant entry point in the IronPDF C# API. Key properties include AllowUserAnnotations, AllowUserCopyPasteContent, AllowUserCopyPasteContentForAccessibility, AllowUserEdits. Assign options or invoke methods on the instance to configure or perform the operation. The PDF permissions passwords covers typical usage in C# end to end.

using IronPdf;

// Obtain PdfSecuritySettings from the relevant entry point in the IronPDF API
void Configure(PdfSecuritySettings instance)
{
    var current = instance.AllowUserAnnotations;
    instance.MakePdfDocumentReadOnly();
}

For the broader workflow, see the add copy delete pages PDF guide in the IronPDF C# documentation. For broader context, the PDF security portion of the IronPDF C# API contains related types that work with PdfSecuritySettings directly. PdfSecuritySettings instances inherit additional members from PdfClientAccessor that may be relevant in advanced scenarios. In application code, treat PdfSecuritySettings as a configured object that is constructed once and reused across operations rather than instantiated per call. Configuration is generally idempotent: assigning the same property value twice has the same effect as assigning it once. For diagnostic purposes, inspect the relevant PdfSecuritySettings property after each operation to confirm the configured state. See the constructors, properties, and methods tables below for the complete API surface of PdfSecuritySettings. Application code typically obtains or instantiates a single PdfSecuritySettings and shares it across multiple IronPDF operations rather than recreating it per call.

Properties

AllowUserAnnotations

Gets or sets the permissions for users to annotate the PDF document with comments.

If AllowUserAnnotations is set false, the OwnerPassword must be set for the security measure to take effect.

Declaration

public bool AllowUserAnnotations { get; set; }

Property Value

Type	Description
System.Boolean	`true` if users may annotate the PDF document, otherwise `false`.

AllowUserCopyPasteContent

Gets or sets the permissions for users to extract or 'copy & paste' content (text and images) from the PDF document.

If AllowUserCopyPasteContent is set false, the OwnerPassword must also be set for the security measure to take effect.

Declaration

public bool AllowUserCopyPasteContent { get; set; }

Property Value

Type	Description
System.Boolean	`true` if users may 'copy and paste' content out of the PDF otherwise, `false`.

AllowUserCopyPasteContentForAccessibility

Gets or sets the permissions for users to extract or 'copy & paste' content (text and images) from the PDF document for accessibility.

Declaration

public bool AllowUserCopyPasteContentForAccessibility { get; set; }

Property Value

Type	Description
System.Boolean	`true` if users may 'copy and paste' content out of the PDF otherwise, `false`.

AllowUserEdits

Gets or sets the permissions for users edit the PDF document. The features to edit the document depends entirely on the PDF client software used by the end user.

If editing rights are restricted, then the OwnerPassword must be set for the security measure to take effect.

Declaration

public PdfEditSecurity AllowUserEdits { get; set; }

Property Value

Type	Description
PdfEditSecurity	The PdfEditSecurity value for user edit security.

AllowUserFormData

Gets or sets the permissions for users to fill-in (enter data into) forms in the PDF document.

If AllowUserFormData is set false, the OwnerPassword must be set for the security measure to take effect.

Note. If you want to make the form readonly in Adobe Acrobat Reader please call MakePdfDocumentReadOnly(String) method or set AllowUserEdits to NoEdit and set OwnerPassword.

Declaration

public bool AllowUserFormData { get; set; }

Property Value

Type	Description
System.Boolean	`true` if users may annotate the PDF document, otherwise `false`. Setting AllowUserFormData true will also enable annotations.

AllowUserPrinting

Gets or sets the permissions for users to print the PDF document.

If print rights are restricted, then the OwnerPassword must be set for the security measure to take effect.

Declaration

public PdfPrintSecurity AllowUserPrinting { get; set; }

Property Value

Type	Description
PdfPrintSecurity	The PdfPrintSecurity value for user printing.

EncryptionType

Gets or sets the encryption algorithm used when the document is secured with a password.

Defaults to Rc4_128 to preserve backward compatibility. Set to Aes_128 or Aes_256 for stronger, modern encryption.

When a password is already set, changing this value re-applies encryption immediately. If no password has been set yet, the algorithm is applied once a password is assigned, so the result is the same regardless of the order in which this and the passwords are set.

Declaration

public PdfEncryptionType EncryptionType { get; set; }

Property Value

Type	Description
PdfEncryptionType

EncryptMetadata

Gets or sets whether the document's metadata is encrypted along with its content.

Defaults to true (the PDF default). Only honored for AES encryption (PDF 1.5+); it has no effect for Rc4_128. Set to false to keep metadata readable/indexable while the rest of the document remains encrypted.

Declaration

public bool EncryptMetadata { get; set; }

Property Value

Type	Description
System.Boolean

OwnerPassword

Sets the owner password and enables encryption of PDF content (algorithm per EncryptionType, RC4 128-bit by default). An owner password is one used to enable and disable all other security settings.

OwnerPassword must be set to a non empty string value for AllowUserCopyPasteContent, AllowUserAnnotations, AllowUserFormData,s AllowUserPrinting and AllowUserEdits to be restricted.

Declaration

public string OwnerPassword { get; set; }

Property Value

Type	Description
System.String

UserPassword

Sets the user password and enables encryption of PDF content (algorithm per EncryptionType, RC4 128-bit by default).

A user password is a password that each user must enter to open or print the PDF document.

Declaration

public string UserPassword { get; set; }

Property Value

Type	Description
System.String

Methods

MakePdfDocumentReadOnly(String)

Declaration

public void MakePdfDocumentReadOnly(string OwnerPassword)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
System.String	OwnerPassword

RemovePasswordsAndEncryption(Boolean)

Removes all user and owner password security for a PDF document. Also disables content encryption.

Content is encrypted at 128 bit. Copy and paste of content is disallowed. Annotations and form editing are disabled.

Remove all digital signatures from the PDF document. (Recommended, since they will become invalidated anyway.)

Declaration

public void RemovePasswordsAndEncryption(bool RemoveSignatures = true)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
System.Boolean	RemoveSignatures