PDF ScreenCapture

In general it is not possible to prevent end users from capturing information that is displayed on screen. This is for several reasons:

• any screen (like any printed page) can be digital scanned or photographed to produce a copy of the content, although this approach for screen-based content is usually of poor quality
• web-based PDF display can always be subject to screen capture because the software being used - standard web browsers - conform to open standards and these do not include additional content security elements or features
• device-based PDF display can be captured as images where the device provides this facility via hardware operations that are part of the core operating system. It may also be the case that widely-available third party software residing in the background cannot be blocked on some operating systems

There is an option in DrumlinPublisher to specify screen capture disable, which applies to MS Windows usage (Javelin3 for Windows). On Android screen capture in Javelin3 for Android is always disabled for secured (drmz) files, as this is a facility supported within the device operating system. On iOS/iPadOS and macOS screen capture is not disabled but is restricted by amending the use of the software when a screen capture is attempted. However, with all OS variants we recommend NOT using the Disable Screen Capture option, but use of static and dynamic Watermarking is the recommended approach. One of the main reasons for this recommendation is that end users may not have the option or understanding required in order to disable any background processes that are running and provide screen capture functionality. This is common amongst corporate users whose devices are "locked down" with pre-installed utilities, and is also the case for some remote access systems (for example MS RDP and Citrix installations).