---
title: "Protecting the generated PDF"
description: "Learn how to protect generated PDFs with passwords using Java and the Java.net library. This guide offers detailed steps with code samples in Java and the Java.net library, showing how to secure your PDF documents."
language: 'Java'
library: 'Java.net'
property: 'protection'
output: 'pdf'
related: ['adding-an-image-watermark', 'adding-a-text-watermark']
default: false
---

In this guide, we'll show you how to protect generated PDFs with passwords using Java and the Java.net library.

When generating PDFs, you might want to add password protection to restrict access.

```java
import java.net.*;
import java.io.*;

// You can get an API key at https://pdfshift.io
String apiKey = "sk_xxxxxxxxxxxx";

URL url = new URL("https://api.pdfshift.io/v3/convert/pdf");
HttpURLConnection connection = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
connection.setRequestMethod("POST");
connection.setRequestProperty("X-API-Key", apiKey);
connection.setRequestProperty("Content-Type", "application/json");
connection.setDoOutput(true);

String payload = "{\n" +
    "  \"source\": \"https://www.example.com\",\n" +
    "  \"protection\": {\n" +
    "    \"user_password\": \"user123\",\n" +
    "    \"owner_password\": \"owner123\"\n" +
    "  }\n" +
    "}";

try (OutputStream os = connection.getOutputStream()) {
    byte[] input = payload.getBytes("utf-8");
    os.write(input, 0, input.length);
}

int responseCode = connection.getResponseCode();

// Handle errors:
if (responseCode >= 400) {
    throw new RuntimeException("Request failed with status code " + responseCode);
}

InputStream inputStream = connection.getInputStream();
FileOutputStream outputStream = new FileOutputStream("result.pdf");
byte[] buffer = new byte[1024];
int bytesRead;
while ((bytesRead = inputStream.read(buffer)) != -1) {
    outputStream.write(buffer, 0, bytesRead);
}
outputStream.close();
inputStream.close();

System.out.println("The PDF document was generated and saved to result.pdf");
```

This allows you to secure your PDF documents with passwords.