---
title: "Encrypt PDF on Android with AES | Nutrient SDK"
canonical_url: "https://www.nutrient.io/guides/android/security/aesdataprovider/"
md_url: "https://www.nutrient.io/guides/android/security/aesdataprovider.md"
last_updated: "2026-05-30T02:20:01.153Z"
description: "The AesDataProvider we ship with our Catalog example app lets you efficiently read and write encrypted PDF documents in your app."
---

# Encrypt PDFs with AES on Android

The `AesDataProvider` we ship with our Catalog example app allows you to efficiently read and write encrypted PDF documents in your app. The data format expected by the data provider is structured like this:

```

Byte:     | 0-15 |     16 - n    |
Contents: |  IV  | Encrypted PDF |

```

In the above table, the first 16 bytes contain the Initialization Vector (IV), while the AES256-CTR encrypted PDF starts at byte offset 16.

## How to encrypt files

Using `openssl`, you can easily encrypt PDF files so that they can be used by the `AesDataProvider`.

1. You need a key to encrypt your files with. For example, you can use the following values.
   - Hex: `110425c3748d6c1c1bc644a2d63c3089be01e17a9eb0254366ff4b7edb261355`
   - Base64: `EQQlw3SNbBwbxkSi1jwwib4B4XqesCVDZv9LftsmE1U=`

2. For every file you encrypt, you need to choose a new IV. This is used to make sure that encrypting the same file with the same key multiple times doesn’t result in the same encrypted file. We’ll use the following.
   - Hex: `97dad56befad54731ea696d2fd39a6d3`
   - Base64: `l9rVa++tVHMeppbS/Tmm0w==`

3. Start by writing the IV to your output file:

   ```shell

       openssl enc -base64 -d <<< l9rVa++tVHMeppbS/Tmm0w== >> encrypted.pdf
   ```

4. Then append the encrypted document to your output file:

   ```shell

       openssl enc -aes-256-ctr -iv 97DAD56BEFAD54731EA696D2FD39A6D3 -K 110425c3748d6c1c1bc644a2d63c3089be01e17a9eb0254366ff4b7edb261355 -in source.pdf >> encrypted.pdf
   ```

---

## Related pages

- [Decrypt PDFs with AES on Android](/guides/android/document-security/decrypt-aes-files.md)
- [Secure your PDFs with custom watermarks on Android](/guides/android/document-security/add-a-watermark.md)
- [Creating password-protected PDFs on Android](/guides/android/document-security/add-a-password.md)
- [Prevent sharing of PDF files on Android](/guides/android/document-security/prevent-sharing.md)
- [Introduction to PDF encryption on Android](/guides/android/security/introduction-to-encryption.md)
- [Document security on Android](/guides/android/document-security.md)
- [Manage PDF document permissions on Android](/guides/android/features/document-permissions.md)