Signing and Certifying Documents
Digital signatures let you identify any unauthorized changes made to a document after it is signed. Documents may be signed several times and by different persons. Certifying a PDF document ensures, in addition to applying a digital signature, that it is encrypted so it can only be accessed or changed by trusted recipients. Digital IDs are used to sign, encrypt and decrypt documents.
To sign an open PDF document
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Click the down arrow next to the
Sign or Certify Document tool on the Security toolbar, or select Document > Sign & Certify > Sign Document and choose Sign Document from the drop-down menu.
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Click with the
cursor and do one of the following:
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Click Continue to create an invisible signature.
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Click Start Over to create a visible signature.
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In the Sign Document dialog box, select a Digital ID from the list or click Add… to browse for an existing Digital ID or create a self-signed digital ID. Confirm the password if the signature scheme includes password protection, then:
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Click Save or Save As … for an invisible signature to take effect, or
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Click Next, configure the appearance, and click Save or Save As … for a visible signature to take effect
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To sign and certify an open PDF document
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Click the down arrow next to the
Sign or Certify Document button on the Security toolbar, or select Document > Sign & Certify > Certify Document and choose Certify Document from the drop-down menu.
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Click with the
cursor and do one of the following:
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Click Continue to create an invisible signature.
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Click Start Over to create a visible signature.
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In the Certify Document dialog box, select a Digital ID from the list or click Add… to browse for an existing Digital ID or create a self-signed digital ID. Confirm the password if the signature scheme includes password protection. Specify allowed actions by choosing from Allow no changes, Allow form filling only, Allow comments and form filling, then:
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Click Save or Save As … for an invisible signature to take effect, or
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Click Next, configure the appearance and click Save or Save As … for a visible signature to take effect.
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To sign and certify an open PDF document invisibly
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Click the down arrow next to the
Sign or Certify Document button on the Security toolbar, or select Document > Sign & Certify > Certify Document Invisibly and choose Certify Document Invisibly from the drop-down menu.
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In the Certify Document dialog box, select a Digital ID from the list or click Add… to browse for an existing Digital ID or create a self-signed digital ID. Confirm the password if the signature scheme includes password protection. Specify allowed actions by choosing from Allow no changes, Allow form filling only, Allow comments and form filling, and then Click Save or Save As … for your action to take effect.
To use the Sign/Certify Panel for signing and certifying
These actions can be performed more conveniently with the Sign/Certify Panel. Do one of the following to display it:
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Select Document > Sign & Certify > Sign/Certify Panel.
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Select View > Organizer Panels > Sign/Certify .
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In the View toolbar, click the
Organizer Panels button and select Sign/Certify from the drop-down list.
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On the Security toolbar, click the
Sign or Certify Document button.
To use an available signature scheme, select its thumbnail in the panel and do one of the following
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Drag it to the place on the page where you want to locate it with original sizing.
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Double-click with the Sign or Certify Document cursor
on the page where you want it located with original sizing.
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Draw a rectangle with the Sign or Certify Document cursor
to contain the signature, resized to fit into the rectangle.
Note
The Sign/Certify panel displays both visible and invisible signature schemes.