In this tutorial, we’ll guide you through the steps to convert a Doc/Docx file into a protected PDF using the PDF.co Web API with PHP. A sample Word document will be used to demonstrate the process.
For a longer conversion, use asynchronous processing where supported. Retain the returned job ID and check its status, allowing a delay between checks. Download the output only after success; stop on failed or aborted.
Async mode does not guarantee completion or eliminate network timeouts. Set request timeouts and a polling deadline so the application cannot wait indefinitely.
Once you've edited the code, save the PHP and HTML file in the appropriate directory for local hosting.
/htdocs directory./www directory.Saving the file in these locations ensures that it’s accessible from your local server.
To execute your PHP script, ensure that your Apache server is running.
Open your browser and enter the following in the address bar to access the file:
sample.html in a folder, enter localhost/your-folder-name/sample.html.
Once the process is complete, a link to the output file will be generated. Click on the link to open the protected PDF file.
Open the generated PDF in a fresh viewer session. Confirm that opening it without a password is denied, then enter the configured userPassword.
While using the user password, test the permissions you configured, such as printing or copying, in a PDF reader that supports these restrictions.
The ownerPassword manages permissions and can bypass those restrictions. Use a different owner password and keep it private if document recipients should only have user-level access.
Here is the protected PDF file generated from the Word document.
In this tutorial, you learned how to convert a DOC file into a protected PDF in PHP using PDF.co Web API. You also learned how easy it is to set up the code samples to get your program running right away.
