Adding a signature field to a PDF file

Instead of adding a single certifying signature to an Adobe® PDF file in Adobe Acrobat® 8, you can add a blank signature field, which is a specialized type of form field used for collecting signatures from others.

Requirements

To complete this article, you will need the following software:

Adobe Acrobat 8

• Try
• Buy (Professional)
• Buy (Standard)

Prerequisite knowledge:

None

Adding a signature field

To add a signature field, do the following:

1. Choose Tools > Forms > Digital Signature Tool and draw a rectangle for the field on your document. Release the mouse and the Digital Signature Properties dialog opens, displaying the General tab.
2. Either leave the default name Signature1 or type a new name.
3. Add a tooltip to prompt recipients to sign the document.
4. Specify whether you want the field to be visible or invisible.
5. Click Locked at the bottom left of the dialog if you want to lock the signature field to prevent changes after you sign the document.
6. Choose other characteristics for the signature field, using the settings described in the sidebar “More Digital Signature Properties” and then click Close. The new signature field is shown on the page.
7. When you move the pointer over the field’s location on the page, it changes to a pointing hand, and the tooltip added in the dialog appears (Figure 1).

    

   

   Figure 1: The user is prompted to sign the document using the preconfigured field.

8. Click the signature field and follow the signature prompts. When the process is complete, your signature appears in the field and is listed in the Signatures panel (Figure 2). Notice the checkmark at the top left of the signature appearance. This checkmark indicates that the signature is valid.

    

   

   Figure 2: Read about the signature in the Signatures panel

   When you modify, close, and reopen the document the signature information as well as its appearance will change. Instead of the checkmark at the upper left of the signature, you now see a caution triangle containing an exclamation mark.

   In the Signatures panel, Acrobat tells you that the validity of the reviewer’s signature has to be confirmed again. To check the signature(s)’s validity, select the signature in the Signatures panel and choose Validate Signature from the Options menu on the panel. The signature is tested, and Acrobat displays the results in a dialog. Click Close to dismiss the dialog, or click Legal Notice or Signature Properties to read more about the signature.

Making modifications

You may see the Modified Signature icon overlaying the signature field after you validate the signature; in this case, the original signatory is still valid, but changes have been made since signing.

Quick check

When there are a number of signatures in a document that you need to check, instead of selecting and validating them individually from the Options in the Signatures menu. Choose Validate all Signatures in Document. Acrobat processes the signatures and displays their status.

More digital signature properties

Customize the appearance and function of a digital signature field:

• On the Appearance tab, choose options for the field’s display, such as color and line thickness.
• Choose a trigger and actions from the Actions tab. For example, you can set an action to have the user go to another page in the document when the field is clicked.
• Select the Signed tab and select options for the document’s function as the field is signed. The Signed tab includes options that let you reset fields as read-only or execute a Java script. The options on the Signed tab are compatible with Acrobat 6 and newer only.

Where to go from here

For more information about security features in Acrobat 8, check out these other great tutorials:

• Using security envelopes in Acrobat, by Donna Baker
• Using security levels and passwords in Acrobat , by Donna Baker
• Redacting text and images in a PDF file, by Donna Baker

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