Learn PowerPoint 2013 for Windows
Mark as Final
Do you need to share your presentations with others? If yes, it's a good idea to make sure that your presentations are set to be read-only before
you share them. What you need then is the Mark as Final option in PowerPoint 2013, which makes your file read-only. Note that this option is not
as restrictive as password protecting a PowerPoint presentation. The Mark as Final option tries to prevent users from typing, editing commands,
and proofing -- all editing options are disabled or turned off. However, do remember that Mark as Final is not a security feature, and it can be
easily reversed by the recipient of your file.
Remove Mark as Final
Have you ever received a presentation that doesn't allow you to make any changes? That could be a password-protected presentation.
Alternatively, it could have been Marked as Final. Fortunately, Mark as Final is more of an administrative tool than a security tool --
it's purpose is to make others aware that the author of the presentation doesn't want others editing this work. First of all you need to
make sure that a presentation indeed has a Mark as Final attribute applied. To do that, check the lower left area of the Status Bar at the
bottom of the PowerPoint Interface. You should see the Mark as Final icon.
Encrypt with Password
When you share your PowerPoint presentations with other people, you may want to protect or lock your content so that the slides may be accessed by
only the people whom you permit to open the presentation. Or perhaps you have no problems with the recipients viewing slides but do not want them
to be able to edit the presentation. PowerPoint 2013 provides an Encrypt with Password option to protect your presentation. However let us ponder
about why anyone would need to password protect their PowerPoint presentations.
Remove and Change Passwords
You may want to encrypt your PowerPoint file with a password for various security reasons. There are two password levels you can implement within
a PowerPoint file: a password to open and a password to edit. However, even if you add a password to your presentation, there may come a time when
you want to remove the password altogether. Or, you may want to change the password. PowerPoint 2013 provides a very simple way to add a password.
However, there is no obvious or intuitive command to remove or change the password protection.
Get Started with a Digital Signature
A digital signature or ID is more commonly known as a digital certificate. Digital IDs help validate your identity, and they can be used
to sign important documents including PowerPoint presentations. Digital certificates are typically issued by a Certificate Authority (CA),
which is a trusted third-party entity that issues these certificates for use by other parties. You can purchase a digital certificate from
many commercial third-party certificate authorities or obtain a free digital certificate. There are many institutions, governments, and
corporations that can also issue their own digital certificates.
