Encryption

The encryption object adds password protection to the generated PDF. You can set separate user and owner passwords and control what actions readers are allowed to perform.

Properties

Property	Type	Default	Description
encryptionType	string	—	Encryption algorithm: RC4_40, RC4_128, AES128, or AES256
userPassword	string	—	Password required to open the document
ownerPassword	string	—	Password required to change permissions or remove protection
permissions	object	—	Granular permission flags (see below)
doNotEncryptMetadata	boolean	false	When true, document metadata remains unencrypted
encryptEmbeddedFilesOnly	boolean	false	When true, only embedded file attachments are encrypted

Encryption types

Type	Key length	Notes
RC4_40	40-bit	Legacy, weak — use only for backward compatibility
RC4_128	128-bit	Legacy, supported by older viewers
AES128	128-bit	Modern, widely supported
AES256	256-bit	Strongest available, recommended for sensitive documents

Permissions

The permissions object controls what a user who opens the document with the user password is allowed to do.

Property	Type	Default	Description
print	boolean	false	Allow printing
modify	boolean	false	Allow modifying document content
copy	boolean	false	Allow copying text and graphics
annotate	boolean	false	Allow adding annotations
fillForm	boolean	false	Allow filling form fields
extract	boolean	false	Allow text extraction for accessibility
assemble	boolean	false	Allow inserting, rotating, or deleting pages

Examples

Basic password protection

{
  "document": {
    "encryption": {
      "encryptionType": "AES256",
      "userPassword": "viewerPass123",
      "ownerPassword": "adminPass456"
    },
    "content": [
      { "p": "This document requires a password to open." }
    ]
  }
}

Read-only with print allowed

{
  "document": {
    "encryption": {
      "encryptionType": "AES256",
      "userPassword": "readonly",
      "ownerPassword": "owner",
      "permissions": {
        "print": true,
        "copy": false,
        "modify": false,
        "annotate": false,
        "fillForm": false,
        "extract": true,
        "assemble": false
      }
    },
    "content": [
      { "p": "This document can be viewed and printed, but not edited or copied." }
    ]
  }
}

Form-fillable only

{
  "document": {
    "encryption": {
      "encryptionType": "AES128",
      "userPassword": "",
      "ownerPassword": "formsAdmin",
      "permissions": {
        "print": true,
        "fillForm": true,
        "modify": false,
        "copy": false,
        "annotate": false,
        "extract": false,
        "assemble": false
      }
    },
    "content": [
      { "p": "Fill in the fields below:" }
    ]
  }
}

An empty userPassword allows opening without a password while still enforcing permission restrictions.

Unencrypted metadata

{
  "document": {
    "metadata": {
      "title": "Confidential Report",
      "author": "Operations Team"
    },
    "encryption": {
      "encryptionType": "AES256",
      "userPassword": "secure",
      "ownerPassword": "admin",
      "doNotEncryptMetadata": true
    },
    "content": [
      { "p": "Metadata is searchable even though the document is encrypted." }
    ]
  }
}

This is useful when documents need to be indexed by a document management system without requiring the password.