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I have several PDF files each with the same password that I know.

What tool or method could batch unlock them and provide a copy of each of the PDFs as an unlocked version?

There's CutePDF - could I use this to print all the PDFs to PDF and it will batch unlock them?

Also: - Virtual Image Printer driver - sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/‎ - pdfforge.org

Can these unlock in batch?

therobyouknow
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  • possible duplicate of [FOSS Script for unlocking PDF for printing](http://superuser.com/questions/100162/foss-script-for-unlocking-pdf-for-printing) – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 Aug 20 '13 at 14:56
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    I don't think that it is a duplicate @techie007 as that question deals with DRM, my question isn't about DRMed PDFs, simply PDFs that are password protected. Thanks. – therobyouknow Aug 20 '13 at 15:05
  • Password protecting a PDF _is_ a form of DRM. ;) – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 Aug 20 '13 at 15:47
  • Thanks techie007 - yes I agree there are many approaches to DRM which *can* include use of a password. But to me DRM is primarily about restricting how many *copies* of a file can be viewed, listened to or watched. I think my case is not primarily about DRM as here, a password is used on the PDF so that it is not seen by those who shouldn't but if it was made public there would be no such restriction. Also, I feel my answer adds value in the context of unlocking *and* in batch - the other answer may not occurred to others like me who are looking to just unlock a batch of files, not print them. – therobyouknow Aug 20 '13 at 16:00
  • I can see your points, and they are valid (or at least reasonable ;) ). Hence why it takes 5 votes to close -- we'll let others read what we've written here and they can decide. :) – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 Aug 20 '13 at 16:03
  • Thanks techie007 :) Put it another way, if you wrote a book and sold it to me as a download password protected PDF and told me the password, then I could give copies to my friends and tell them the password so they wouldn't have to pay you money (which I wouldn't do because I'm a nice guy - I would make them buy their own from you). So This is not I would call DRM because it doesn't do what DRM is supposed to do. That's why amazon don't use it. Though I kno some publishers *do* do it but they also put the buyer's address on each page as a deterrent and to instill paranoia. – therobyouknow Aug 20 '13 at 16:12
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    On Linux you can use [qpdf](http://qpdf.sourceforge.net/) for the task. See [here](http://askubuntu.com/questions/231836/how-can-i-batch-decrypt-a-series-of-pdf-files/231837#231837) for a batch decryption script which can be easily integrated into the context menu of file managers like Nautilus. – Glutanimate Sep 08 '13 at 18:02
  • +1 Thanks Glutanimate for the qpdf example, I did see qpdf in search results but the *apparent* fiddling with package managers etc put me off. Don't get me wrong, I use Linux all the time and deal with this stuff, I just didn't feel like the effort was worth it (maybe another time when I had more motivation perhaps). So the http://www.a-pdf.com/faq/how-to-decrypt-pdf-security.htm suited me just fine: download, install, run, clikc here and there and done! Life's too short... Oh, and I preferred a Windows solution as my tags in the question indicate. thanks anyway, upvoted ya! – therobyouknow Sep 08 '13 at 18:42
  • I don't have the reputation to post. In the terminal go to the directory with your files then call `brew install qpdf` then `for file in *.pdf; do $(qpdf -password=password123 -decrypt --replace-input $file); done` – Declan McKenna Jan 23 '20 at 15:33

3 Answers3

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Use pdftk

pdftk input.pdf output output.pdf user_pw PASSWORD

and a simple for-loop in your shell.

vbraun
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  • +1 thanks I'll check it out when I get home and have time/access to the documents. – therobyouknow Aug 20 '13 at 15:04
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    For me this didn't work, got error `OWNER PASSWORD REQUIRED, but not given (or incorrect)` when I tried BOTH `user_pw` and/or `owner_pw` as command line options as described in the documentation. Conclusion: pdftk didn't know how to decrypt my *particular* PDFs - but might work for someone else's. – therobyouknow Sep 08 '13 at 15:49
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You can try cipherbox, a free software to unlock your password-protected PDF files in batch. According to the description of its webpage, cipherbox works on all PDF versions including AES encryption. It applies to word and zip files too.

Kevin Panko
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John Shawnes
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0

The following program did the job:

http://www.a-pdf.com/faq/how-to-decrypt-pdf-security.htm

The download trial for it worked. Purchasing the full version at $27 which I think is reasonable for a convenient tool that works.

Update

There is also ilovepdf.com which is a freemium service in that it has some free options that may cover those doing a similar task as me, depending on the quantity and other conditions of using the free version. Pricing information if requirements are not offered by the free service are here: https://www.ilovepdf.com/pricing

No affiliation. The above came from a suggested edit from user Rythorian Ethrovon Their affiliation not known. I included the reference to ilovepdf as an update to this existing answer, to add to the original, rather than a complete replacement to my existing answer.

My response on their edit suggestion is: 1. don't suggest an edit that entirely replaces the original answer that still had the same useful value. 2. Instead of posting your solution as a edit suggestion, post your solution as an additional answer - you can do that! Or as a comment.

All that said, my preference is for my original answer in a-pdf because it is an application, which, as far as i can tell, handles all my pdf file data locally, rather than as a cloud service where I may have less control or understanding of how long my pdf files would be stored in the cloud and if they would be used for purposes outside of my task. But cloud services can suit many, including me, jsut depends on the specific circumstance.

therobyouknow
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