Prevent an Office Document From Printing

Is there a way to prevent someone from printing an MS Office document? The
goal is to allow users to view the document, but not allow them to print it.
--
Rick

Any document that can be displayed can be printed by using a screen capture
program.

If you want them not to be able to click on the print button and print it
you should invest in a program that will create a PDF file and will security
protect it.

The program I use is PrimoPDF from http://www.primopdf.com/. It is free and
it's security can be set to disable printing, copying parts of the file,
etc..

"rickbrownaz" <rickbrownaz@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:03D291B5-0A8A-4210-AAA5-85CFAE7B688E@microsoft.com...
> Is there a way to prevent someone from printing an MS Office document?
> The
> goal is to allow users to view the document, but not allow them to print
> it.
> --
> Rick

rickbrownaz wrote:
> Is there a way to prevent someone from printing an MS Office
> document? The goal is to allow users to view the document, but not
> allow them to print it.

It's a hopeless quest. If anyone can see your document, they can copy it,
print it, edit it, whatever. The most you can do is make it a little more
difficult.

If this is just a case of "paper document may be out of date, only the
electronic copy is controlled", then put that statement in the footer of
every section, and apply good old-fashioned discipline to anyone who ignores
the warning.

If the people you're worried about are outside your control, the best (but
not very good) that you can do is to distribute only a PDF file that has
printing and copying locked out and a password applied. That still won't
prevent copying by a determined thief, but it will make them work for it.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

PrimoPDF looks pretty good. I'll take a look at it.
--
Rick


"LVTravel" wrote:

> Any document that can be displayed can be printed by using a screen capture
> program.
>
> If you want them not to be able to click on the print button and print it
> you should invest in a program that will create a PDF file and will security
> protect it.
>
> The program I use is PrimoPDF from http://www.primopdf.com/. It is free and
> it's security can be set to disable printing, copying parts of the file,
> etc..
>
> "rickbrownaz" <rickbrownaz@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:03D291B5-0A8A-4210-AAA5-85CFAE7B688E@microsoft.com...
> > Is there a way to prevent someone from printing an MS Office document?
> > The
> > goal is to allow users to view the document, but not allow them to print
> > it.
> > --
> > Rick
>
>
>

Yes, I'm afraid you are correct. It would be a nice freature to put in MS
Office though.
--
Rick


"Jay Freedman" wrote:

> rickbrownaz wrote:
> > Is there a way to prevent someone from printing an MS Office
> > document? The goal is to allow users to view the document, but not
> > allow them to print it.
>
> It's a hopeless quest. If anyone can see your document, they can copy it,
> print it, edit it, whatever. The most you can do is make it a little more
> difficult.
>
> If this is just a case of "paper document may be out of date, only the
> electronic copy is controlled", then put that statement in the footer of
> every section, and apply good old-fashioned discipline to anyone who ignores
> the warning.
>
> If the people you're worried about are outside your control, the best (but
> not very good) that you can do is to distribute only a PDF file that has
> printing and copying locked out and a password applied. That still won't
> prevent copying by a determined thief, but it will make them work for it.
>
> --
> Regards,
> Jay Freedman
> Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
> Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
> all may benefit.
>
>
>

That option is available through Information Rights Management, a feature of Windows Server 2003. Install the server version and then the client versions and you can not only control who can print, but if the document can be edited, forwarded, etc.

--�
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, rickbrownaz asked:

| Is there a way to prevent someone from printing an MS Office
| document? The goal is to allow users to view the document, but not
| allow them to print it.

That part about IRM is true, BUT the user may still do a screenshot and
print that.

Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook] wrote:

> That option is available through Information Rights Management, a feature of Windows Server 2003. Install the server version and then the client versions and you can not only control who can print, but if the document can be edited, forwarded, etc.
>
> --�
> Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
>
> Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
> unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
> reading.
>
> After furious head scratching, rickbrownaz asked:
>
> | Is there a way to prevent someone from printing an MS Office
> | document? The goal is to allow users to view the document, but not
> | allow them to print it.

And there are many, many people out there using Office that don't have IRM
available to them since they don't have a true server system network.


"Bob I" <birelan@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:%236NvIQEhIHA.1168@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
That part about IRM is true, BUT the user may still do a screenshot and
print that.

Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook] wrote:

> That option is available through Information Rights Management, a feature
> of Windows Server 2003. Install the server version and then the client
> versions and you can not only control who can print, but if the document
> can be edited, forwarded, etc.
> --�
> Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
>
> Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
> unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
> reading.
> After furious head scratching, rickbrownaz asked:
>
> | Is there a way to prevent someone from printing an MS Office
> | document? The goal is to allow users to view the document, but not
> | allow them to print it.

There is such a feature -- it's called Information Rights Management (IRM).
:-)

Here's an article that contains additional details:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/or...01841033.aspxl

Note types of restrictions/permissions you can set can be found in the
section titled "Permission levels".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton

What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

"rickbrownaz" <rickbrownaz@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:38CADFB3-915D-4087-862F-49FE6ACBF8BD@microsoft.com...
> Yes, I'm afraid you are correct. It would be a nice freature to put in MS
> Office though.
>
> "Jay Freedman" wrote:
>
>> rickbrownaz wrote:
>> > Is there a way to prevent someone from printing an MS Office
>> > document? The goal is to allow users to view the document, but not
>> > allow them to print it.
>>
>> It's a hopeless quest. If anyone can see your document, they can copy it,
>> print it, edit it, whatever. The most you can do is make it a little more
>> difficult.

If printing is restricted you can't obtain a screen shot with IRM. Of course
I suppose one could use a digital camera...<grin>

(Actually, I think a few third-party screen capture programs would work...)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton

What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

"Bob I" <birelan@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:%236NvIQEhIHA.1168@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> That part about IRM is true, BUT the user may still do a screenshot and
> print that.