How To Crack Password Protected PDF Documents Part 2

Before I continue I must state that this only works if you have permission to view the contents of the PDF but are unable to print it.. This post is an addition to How To Crack Password Protected PDF Documents. These two posts can be read in any order, they simply showcase different workarounds.

Ghostscipt and GSView are both free, opensource and legal. This method is a workaround don’t start calling it a hack.

  1. Download and install Ghostscript.
  2. Download and install GSView (GUI for Ghostscript).
  3. Launch GSView
  4. Open your PDF
  5. Print
    Download for Linux:

Ghostscript

    Download for Windows:

Ghostscript


GSView for Linux/Windows

Note that Ghostscript for Windows is slightly behind the Linux version. If you want the latest bleeding edge you will have to compile the source code yourself.

If you wish to save the PDF you have to use pdfwrite (by going to file>Convert) to create a copy of it. However, pdfwrite does not always work correctly. It sometimes cuts the content off the page.

The more reliable way to copy it is to download a virtual print driver. Go to the options in Virtual Image Printer driver and select your output file type. It can output the PDF as BMP, PNG , JPG, TIFF or back to PDF.

Be aware that when you use any of these methods the PDFs will be larger then the original because the pages are all images. When you go to step 5 and click Print proceed to the drop down menu and select the new Virtual Print option.

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 1st, 2008 at 6:01 pm and is filed under Hacks, Tutorials, technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “How To Crack Password Protected PDF Documents Part 2”

  1. suzi Says:
    June 12, 2008 at 10:00 am | Reply

    It works!!! Thanks a lot!

  2. Rane Says:
    June 15, 2008 at 11:10 pm | Reply

    This didn’t work for me, maybe because it was a protected ebook?

  3. mehaboob Says:
    December 17, 2008 at 6:03 pm | Reply

    sir, am having a problem so could u plz help me…. am having a pdf document , while opening it is not having password but after opening the document some matter is there and upon that (green color check boxes lines are there.) and that one i have to copy to word file while copying it is coming along with that green color check boxes with the matter but for me i need only matter .. not along with lines so plz could u help me the problem and mail to me thank u sir

  4. Ciccarelli Says:
    June 16, 2009 at 5:21 pm | Reply

    That worked. Thanks.

Leave a Reply