Sometimes the answer to a problem is so obvious that you can’t see it right away. I spent about an hour the other for a program or a script that would allow me to set the security properties for several PDF documents in one fast swoop. Google provided a couple of commercial applications and I even considered Adobe’s own Capture Agent Pack which includes a Security Agent and could handle my workflow request.

The answer to my problem was already installed on my computer in the form of Adobe Acrobat Professional. Similar to other Adobe products, Acrobat allows you to create Batch Sequences which can then be applied to one or several PDF documents.

A task that I thought was going to take hours to get complete was handled in a matter of minutes and even better without any costs. Let this be a reminder to check your toolbox before you make a decision to buy software you really don’t need. Although, it would’ve been fun to check out the Acrobat SDK to see what I could’ve come up.