Protecting PDFs from reproduction

Copyright material can be problematic as a teacher. Students may be allowed to access a PDF document, but are not allowed to duplicate it.  This is often the case when putting content on a Learning Management Systems. Something that can slow students down is to move it to HTML 5 and add some extra code to the CSS part of the HTML document that prevents copying and printing. This is not 100% watertight but is the best solution I have found.

1. use cloud convert or Format Factory to convert the pdf document to HTML – https://cloudconvert.com/pdf-to-html
2. Add the following code just under <style type=”text/css”>

   @media print
   { 
    * {
    display: none !important;
    }
   }
   * {
   -webkit-touch-callout: none; /* iOS Safari */ 
   -webkit-user-select: none; /* Safari */
   -khtml-user-select: none; /* Konqueror HTML */
   -moz-user-select: none; /* Firefox */
   -ms-user-select: none; /* Internet Explorer/Edge */
   user-select: none; /* Non-prefixed version, currently
   supported by Chrome and Opera */
   }

3. If using Format Factory, you can remove the menu on the left-hand side by removing all content in the <div id=”outline” tag
4. Upload the PDF onto your LMS/Website