It is very convenience to e-mail docs I prepare in Word to clients. However,
I am not comfortable doing so because it gives them the chance to make
changes that are unauthorized. Is there any way to save it so that the
recipient can print the doc but can in no way whatsoever make a single change
to it? Even if it is a read-only file, changes can still be made and printed,
just not saved. So that doesn't work. Any ideas??

Low security method - easily defeated by the unusual knowledgeable user:
Protect the document for forms with a password.

Higher security - still relatively easy to defeat - is save and distribute
as a .pdf file.
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://www.mvps.org/word which is awesome!
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"jennfrazier5" wrote in message
...
It is very convenience to e-mail docs I prepare in Word to clients.
However,
I am not comfortable doing so because it gives them the chance to make
changes that are unauthorized. Is there any way to save it so that the
recipient can print the doc but can in no way whatsoever make a single
change
to it? Even if it is a read-only file, changes can still be made and
printed,
just not saved. So that doesn't work. Any ideas??

"jennfrazier5"
wrote

It is very convenience to e-mail docs I prepare in Word to
clients. However,
I am not comfortable doing so because it gives them the
chance to make
changes that are unauthorized. Is there any way to save it
so that the
recipient can print the doc but can in no way whatsoever
make a single change
to it? Even if it is a read-only file, changes can still
be made and printed,
just not saved. So that doesn't work. Any ideas??

Short of being a complete ******* about changes that are
made after you have delivered a file, there's not much you
can do. When changes are made over your head, be absolutely
scathing and detailed in your criticism of them.

There's really no technical solution to this problem
however.

With some clients I have a *written* agreement that says I
get to (or must) check and OK the final version before it
goes to press. In a few cases I've had to demand that my
name be removed from the "credits" page because the client
wouldn't remove changes that I didn't approve of. (It helps
to have a name that clients *want* to be on the credits
page.)

It's also important to cultivate relationships with your
clients so that there's at least *one* person in a "because
I said so" position who's on your side.

--
Bob

Kanyak's Doghouse
http://www.kanyak.com