Whenever I try to highlight my pdf it requires a password to unlock. Is this possible to get or is this something that is not aloud.
That's unusual. I've never had a problem doing a copy/paste from a PDF.
A couple things to try:
a) Download the PDF again to make sure you don't have a corrupted copy (not likely, but, eh)
b) Use a different PDF reader to open the file.
I've never seen that either. I just checked all three of my subscription PDFs from this month (Starfinder AP, Pathfinder AP, Lost Omens Ancestry Guide) and all three of them work fine to select and copy and paste text in both FoxIt and Adobe Reader.
Assuming you're talking about highlighting PDFs as actually marking up your copy of the text as opposed to selecting to copy/paste, you might check out this very old thread.
To condense: PDF security is (was?) binary, not granular. If Paizo allows things they don't mind you doing with the PDF, they have to also allow things they emphatically don't want you doing with your PDF.
Wouldn’t you need full acrobat to actually generate a PDF? I thought acrobat reader was just that - a reader.
It’s worth noting that there are anti-piracy efforts not immediately obvious to us (ie beyond the watermark). It doesn’t really matter what other things are toggleable - those are the ones that matter and Paizo don’t discuss them publicly.
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It’s worth noting that there are anti-piracy efforts not immediately obvious to us (ie beyond the watermark). It doesn’t really matter what other things are toggleable - those are the ones that matter and Paizo don’t discuss them publicly.I genuinely don't know what you're suggesting here.
That’s fine. You’re allowed to not know, that doesn’t change the fact there’s a reason. (Or at least was - this discussion happened years ago. Who knows how acrobat has changed over the years?)
The point is there are some measures Paizo utilise (not “Paizo specific” - is that really the most charitable reading you could come up with? *roll*) which are undermined by allowing greater access and which can’t be switched off independently.
This wasn’t in response to the person struggling to extract images - that’s clearly a glitch. It was in response to “what do you mean it’s not toggleable? I’ve seen it be toggled”.
I can confirm that I'm able to highlight on the latest version of Adobe Acrobat as well without needing the edit password to unlock the PDF (tested on Ancestry Guide).
I refute Zapp's statement that you shouldn't install security updates. You absolutely should; PDF is a complicated file format, and if you are running unpatched software and open a malicious PDF, it can take over your computer (installing malware or ransomware, joining you to a botnet, etc.). If you don't like what Adobe has done with recent editions of their Reader, use a different PDF solution such as the PDF reader built into your web browser or another program such as Foxit suggested above instead of running unpatched old versions.
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I’m sorry you didn’t understand. I don’t claim hidden knowledge.
I know nothing about IT - I just listened to the experts when they discussed it publicly here on the forums years ago. I thought you might be interested.
This post here is rather dated, but I think that still holds true.
If you look around in the posts of Vic Wertz, I'm sure this topic has come up time and again.
Sadly, the staff don't engage as much on the forums as they used to, but when they do they are extremely transparent and open about how things work.
Vic in particular has provided a treasure trove of insights over the years about how RPG publishing works in general and how Paizo have arrived at many of the decisions they have.
They don't get treated very well in a bunch of cases when they do engage.