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Digitally Signing PDF Documents
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Signing a document
Adding a signature does not affect the validity of existing signatures in the document.
When you sign a document, your signature and the related information can be stored in a
signature field embedded on the page. A signature field is an Acrobat form field.
Important: Sign a document only after you make final changes. If you make changes to a
PDF document after you sign it, the signature may still be valid, but a caution triangle
appears in the signature field and in the Signature tab, indicating that changes were
made after the signature was added. The author of the PDF form can also lock fields after
the document is signed to prevent additional changes.
To sign a document:
1 In the Digital Signatures panel of the Preferences dialog box, specify a default signing
method.
2 Click the unsigned signature field in the PDF document. (The field must be a signature
form field, not just a blank box.)
3 If the document isn’t certified, make sure that you received it from a trusted source, and
then click Continue Signing.
4 If you have not yet selected a digital ID, select one, and then click OK. (See “About
digital IDs and certification methods” on page 48.)
5 In the Apply Signature to Document dialog box, type your password if prompted, and
specify the reason for signing the document.
6 Click Show Options, and do the following:
•
If desired, add contact information for validation purposes.
•
Choose a signature appearance. Standard Text displays a validation icon with the name
and other information. If you defined a personalized signature, choose it from the
menu. To preview your signature before signing the document, click Preview. To create
a new signature appearance, click New, and follow the steps in “Creating a new
signature appearance” on page 54.
7 To sign and save the document, do one of the following:
•
Choose Sign and Save As (recommended) to sign the document and save it using a
different filename. This command lets you make changes to the original PDF document
without invalidating the signature.
•
Chose Sign and Save if you already saved the document with a different filename. If you
make changes to the saved PDF document, you may invalidate the signature.
Adding signatures to a document in a Web browser
When you sign a document in a browser, only the incremental portion of the file is saved
to your hard drive. (A Sign button rather than a Save or Save As button appears.) To save a
copy of the signed document, you must save the file to your hard drive.
To sign a document in a browser:
1 From the Sign menu on the Acrobat toolbar, choose Sign This Document, or click a
signature field, and then follow the steps described in “Signing a document” on page 53.
2 To retain a copy of the signed document, click the Save a Copy of the File button on the
Acrobat toolbar.
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