by , 7:30 AM EDT, April 9th, 2007

Sharing sensitive documents electronically doesn't necessarily require applications like Adobe Acrobat to encrypt and protect your data. Mac OS X includes its own PDF encryption tool, no extra charge.

Here's how to create an encrypted PDF from most any application:

• Choose File > Print.

Tiger's Encrypt PDF option.

• Click and hold the PDF button, and then choose Encrypt PDF.
• Enter a password others can use to decrypt your PDF.

Enter a password to keep prying eyes out of your PDF.

• Click Continue.
• Name your PDF.

Name your encrypted PDF.

• Click Save.

Anyone that wants to read the contents of your PDF will first need to have the password you assigned to the document.

This is a quick and easy was to make sure that your private documents stay that way. If you need more control over how your PDF is created - like which fonts are included - you'll still need to use a more full-featured PDF creation tool like Adobe Acrobat.