How To Create Digital Certificate Signature

Acrobat User Guide
Introduction to Acrobat
1. Acrobat DC tutorials
2. What's new in Acrobat DC
3. Create PDFs with Acrobat
4. Rotate, move, delete, and renumber PDF pages
5. Edit text in PDFs
6. PDF to Word – How to convert PDF to Word
7. PDF to JPG– How to convert PDF to JPG
8. Convert or export PDFs to other file formats
9. Get started with Acrobat DC
10. Navigating PDF pages
11. Workspace basics | Acrobat DC
12. System Requirements | Adobe Acrobat Pro DC, Adobe Acrobat Standard DC
13. Workspace basics | Acrobat DC 2017, Acrobat DC Classic (2015)
Workspace
1. Workspace basics | Acrobat DC
2. Workspace basics | Acrobat DC 2017, Acrobat DC Classic (2015)
3. Viewing PDFs and viewing preferences
4. Navigating PDF pages
5. Adjusting PDF views
6. Keyboard shortcuts
7. Connect your online storage accounts to access files in Acrobat
8. Grids, guides, and measurements in PDFs
9. Flash Player needed | Acrobat, Acrobat Reader
10. Display PDF in browser | Acrobat, Acrobat Reader
11. Updating Acrobat and using Adobe Digital Editions
12. Opening PDFs
13. Asian, Cyrillic, and right-to-left text in PDFs
14. Acrobat in Mac OS | Acrobat Pro
15. Access Box files in Acrobat, Acrobat Reader
16. Access Dropbox files in Acrobat, Acrobat Reader
17. Access OneDrive files in Acrobat, Acrobat Reader
18. Access SharePoint files in Acrobat, Acrobat Reader
19. Access Google Drive files in Acrobat
20. Enable thumbnail preview of PDFs in Windows Explorer
21. Document Cloud notifications
Creating PDFs
1. Create PDFs with Acrobat
2. Create PDFs with PDFMaker (Windows)
3. Print to PDF
4. Scan documents to PDF
5. Overview of PDF creation
6. Using the Adobe PDF printer
7. Converting web pages to PDF
8. PDF fonts
9. Creating PDFs with Acrobat Distiller
10. Adobe PDF conversion settings
Editing PDFs
1. Edit PDF using Acrobat DC
2. Edit text in PDFs
3. Edit images or objects in a PDF
4. Rotate, move, delete, and renumber PDF pages
5. Edit scanned PDFs
6. Enhance document photos captured using a mobile camera
7. Optimizing PDFs
8. PDF properties and metadata
9. Links and attachments in PDFs
10. PDF layers
11. Page thumbnails and bookmarks in PDFs
12. Action Wizard (Acrobat Pro)
13. PDFs converted to web pages
14. Setting up PDFs for a presentation
15. PDF articles
16. Geospatial PDFs
17. Applying actions and scripts to PDFs
18. Change the default font for adding text and fallback font for editing PDF
19. Delete PDF – How to delete pages from PDF
Scan and OCR
1. Scan documents to PDF
2. Enhance document photos captured using a mobile camera
3. Edit scanned PDFs
4. Troubleshoot scanner issues when scanning using Acrobat
Forms
1. PDF forms basics
2. Create a form from scratch in Acrobat
3. Create and distribute PDF forms
4. How to fill in PDF forms
5. PDF form field properties
6. Fill and sign PDF forms
7. Setting action buttons in PDF forms
8. Publishing interactive PDF web forms
9. PDF form field basics
10. PDF barcode form fields
11. Collect and manage PDF form data
12. About forms tracker
13. PDF forms help
14. Send PDF forms to recipients using email or an internal server
Combining files
1. Combine or merge files into single PDF
2. Rotate, move, delete, and renumber PDF pages
3. Add headers, footers, and Bates numbering to PDFs
4. Crop PDF pages
5. Add watermarks to PDFs
6. Add backgrounds to PDFs
7. Working with component files in a PDF Portfolio
8. Publish and share PDF Portfolios
9. Overview of PDF Portfolios
10. Create and customize PDF Portfolios
Sharing, reviews, and commenting
1. Share and track PDFs online
2. Mark up text with edits
3. Preparing for a PDF review
4. Starting a PDF review
5. Hosting shared reviews on SharePoint or Office 365 sites
6. Participating in a PDF review
7. Use annotation and drawing markup tools to add comments in PDFs
8. Adding a stamp to a PDF
9. Approval workflows
10. Managing comments | view, reply, print
11. Importing and exporting comments
12. Tracking and managing PDF reviews
13. Adobe Document Cloud for Outlook
Saving and exporting PDFs
1. Saving PDFs
2. PDF to Word – How to convert PDF to Word
3. PDF to JPG– How to convert PDF to JPG
4. Convert or export PDFs to other file formats
5. File format options for PDF export
6. Reusing PDF content
Security
1. Enhanced security setting for PDFs
2. Securing PDFs with passwords
3. Manage Digital IDs
4. Securing PDFs with certificates
5. Opening secured PDFs
6. Removing sensitive content from PDFs
7. Setting up security policies for PDFs
8. Choosing a security method for PDFs
9. Security warnings when a PDF opens
10. Securing PDFs with Adobe Experience Manager - Forms Server (Document Security)
11. Protected View feature for PDFs (Windows only)
12. Overview of security in Acrobat and PDFs
13. JavaScripts in PDFs as a security risk
14. Attachments as security risks in Acrobat DC and Acrobat Reader DC
15. How to allow or block links to the Internet in PDFs for all or selected websites
Electronic signatures
1. Sign PDF documents
2. Capture your signature on mobile and use it everywhere
3. Send documents for signature
4. About certificate signatures in Adobe Acrobat
5. Certificate-based signatures
6. Validating digital signatures
7. Adobe Approved Trust List
8. Manage trusted identities
Printing
1. Basic PDF printing tasks
2. Print Booklets and PDF Portfolios
3. Advanced PDF print settings
4. Print to PDF
5. Printing color PDFs (Acrobat Pro)
6. Printing PDFs in custom sizes
Accessibility, tags, and reflow
1. Create and verify PDF accessibility (Acrobat Pro)
2. Accessibility features in PDFs
3. Reading Order tool for PDFs (Acrobat Pro)
4. Reading PDFs with reflow and accessibility features
5. Edit document structure with the Content and Tags panels (Acrobat Pro)
6. Creating accessible PDFs
Searching and indexing
1. Creating PDF indexes
2. Searching PDFs
Multimedia and 3D models
1. Add audio, video, and interactive objects to PDFs
2. Adding 3D models to PDFs (Acrobat Pro)
3. Displaying 3D models in PDFs
4. Interacting with 3D models
5. Measuring 3D objects in PDFs
6. Setting 3D views in PDFs
7. Enable 3D content in PDF
8. Adding multimedia to PDFs
9. Commenting on 3D designs in PDFs
10. Playing video, audio, and multimedia formats in PDFs
11. Add comments to videos (Acrobat Pro)
Print production tools (Acrobat Pro)
1. Print production tools overview (Acrobat Pro)
2. Printer marks and hairlines (Acrobat Pro)
3. Previewing output (Acrobat Pro)
4. Transparency flattening (Acrobat Pro)
5. Color conversion and ink management (Acrobat Pro)
6. Trapping color (Acrobat Pro)
Preflight (Acrobat Pro)
1. PDF/X-, PDF/A-, and PDF/E-compliant files (Acrobat Pro)
2. Preflight profiles (Acrobat Pro)
3. Advanced preflight inspections (Acrobat Pro)
4. Preflight reports (Acrobat Pro)
5. Viewing preflight results, objects, and resources (Acrobat Pro)
6. Output intents in PDFs (Acrobat Pro)
7. Correcting problem areas with the Preflight tool (Acrobat Pro)
8. Automating document analysis with droplets or preflight actions (Acrobat Pro)
9. Analyzing documents with the Preflight tool (Acrobat Pro)
10. Additional checks in the Preflight tool (Acrobat Pro)
11. Preflight libraries (Acrobat Pro)
12. Preflight variables (Acrobat Pro)
Color management
1. Keeping colors consistent
2. Color settings
3. Color-managing documents
4. Working with color profiles
5. Understanding color management

A certificate-based signature, like a conventional handwritten signature, identifies the person signing a document. Unlike a handwritten signature, a certificate-based signature is difficult to forge because it contains encrypted information that is unique to the signer. It can be easily verified and informs recipients whether the document was modified after the signer initially signed the document.

To sign a document with a certificate-based signature, you must obtain a digital ID or create a self-signed digital ID in Acrobat or Adobe Reader. The digital ID contains a private key and a certificate with a public key and more. The private key is used to create the certificate-based signature. The certificate is a credential that is automatically applied to the signed document. The signature is verified when recipients open the document.

When you apply a certificate-based signature, Acrobat uses a hashing algorithm to generate a message digest, which it encrypts using your private key. Acrobat embeds the encrypted message digest in the PDF, certificate details, signature image, and a version of the document when it was signed.

Certificate-based signature in a PDF form

Certifying and signing documents

The Sign > Work with Certificates panel lets you apply two types of certificate-based signatures. You can certify a document attest to its content or approve a document with the Sign With Certificate option.

Certify

Certify options provide a higher level of document control than Sign With Certificate. For documents that require certification, you must certify the documents before others sign them. If a document has already been signed, the Certify options are disabled. When you certify a document, you can control the types of changes other people can make. You can certify with or without displaying a signature.

Sign With Certificate

When you sign with a certificate, the signature is considered an approval signature.

Signatures made with the Certify or Sign With Certificate options comply with data protection standards specified by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). In addition, both signature types comply with the PDF Advanced Electronic Signature (PAdES) standard. Acrobat and Reader provide an option to change the default signing format to a CAdES format. This option is compliant with Part 3 of the PAdES standard. The timestamp capability and native support for long-term validation of signatures (introduced in Acrobat 9.1) is in compliance with Part 4 of the PAdES standard. The default signing format, when set up accordingly, is compliant with Part 2 of the PAdES standard. You can change the default signing method or format, in the Signatures panel of the Preferences dialog box. Under Creation & Appearance, click More.

Setting up certificate-based signatures

You can expedite the signing process and optimize your results by making the following preparations in advance.

Some situations require using particular digital IDs for signing. For example, a corporation or government agency can require individuals to use only digital IDs issued by that agency to sign official documents. Inquire about the digital signature policies of your organization to determine the appropriate source of your digital ID.

Get a digital ID from your own organization, buy a digital ID (see the Adobe website for security partners), or create a self-signed one. See Create a self-signed digital ID. You can't apply a certificate-based signature without a digital id.

Set the default signing method.

Create an appearance for your certificate-based signature. (See Create the signature appearance.)

Use the Preview Document mode to suppress any dynamic content that can alter the appearance of the document and mislead you into signing an unsuitable document. For information about using the Preview Document mode, see Sign in Preview Document mode.

Review all the pages in a document before you sign. Documents can contain signature fields on multiple pages.

Configure the signing application. Both authors and signers should configure their application environment. (See Set signing preferences.)

For details on the full range of configuration options in enterprise settings, see the Digital Signatures Guide.

Choose a signature type. Learn about approval and certification signatures to determine the type you should choose to sign your document. (See Signature types.)

Set signing preferences

Signing workflow preferences control what you can see and do when the signing dialog box opens. You can allow certain actions, hide and display data fields, and change how content affects the signing process. Setting signing preferences impacts your ability to see what you are signing. For information on the available signing preferences, see "Signing Workflow Preferences" in the Digital Signature Guide at www.adobe.com/go/learn_acr_security_en.

Customizing signature workflows using seed values

Seed values offer additional control to document authors by letting them specify which choices signers can make when signing a document. By applying seed values to signature fields in unsigned PDFs, authors can customize options and automate tasks. They can also specify signature requirements for items such as certificates and timestamp servers. For more information about customizing signatures using seed values, see the Digital Signature Guide (PDF) at www.adobe.com/go/learn_acr_security_en.

Create the appearance of a certificate-based signature

You determine the look of your certificate-based signature by selecting options in the Signatures panel of the Preferences dialog box. For example, you can include an image of your handwritten signature, a company logo, or a photograph. You can also create different signatures for different purposes. For some, you can provide a greater level of detail.

A signature can also include information that helps others verify your signature , such as the reason for signing, contact information, and more.

Signature formats in Acrobat — Signature formats

A. Text signatureB. Graphic signature

(Optional) If you want to include an image of your handwritten signature in the certificate-based signature, scan your signature, and save it as an image file. Place the image in a document by itself, and convert the document to PDF.

Right-click the signature field, and select Sign Document or Certify With Visible Signature.

You can also create an appearance using the Signature preferences: Edit > Preferences > Signatures (Windows) or Acrobat > Preferences > Signatures (Mac OS).

From the Appearance menu in the Sign dialog box, select Create New Appearance.

In the Configure Signature Appearance dialog box, type a name for the signature you're creating. When you sign, you select the signature by this name. Therefore, use a short, descriptive title.

For Configure Graphic, choose an option:

No Graphic

Displays only the default icon and other information specified in the Configure Text section.

Imported Graphic

Displays an image with your certificate-based signature. Select this option to include an image of your handwritten signature. To import the image file, click File, click Browse, and then select the image file.

Name

Displays only the default signature icon and your name as it appears in your digital ID file.

For Configure Text, select the options that you want to appear in the signature. Distinguished Name shows the user attributes defined in your digital ID, including your name, organization, and country.

(Optional) If the dialog box includes the Additional Signature Information section, specify the reason for signing the document, the location, and your contact information. These options are available only if you set them as your preferences in the Creation and Appearance Preferences dialog box (Edit > Preferences > Signatures > Creation & Appearance > More).

Set up a roaming ID account

A roaming ID is a digital ID that is stored on a server and can be accessed by the subscriber. You must have an Internet connection to access a roaming ID and an account from an organization that supplies roaming digital IDs.

Open the Preferences dialog box.

Under Categories, select Signatures.

For Identities & Trusted Certificates, click More.

Expand Digital IDs on the left, select Roaming ID Accounts, and click Add Account.

Type the name and URL for the roaming ID server, and click Next.

Type your user name and password or follow the directions to create an account. Click Next, and then click Finish.

Once the roaming ID is added, it can be used for signing or encryption. When you perform a task that uses your roaming ID, you're automatically logged in to the roaming ID server if your authentication assertion hasn't expired.

PKCS#12 modules and tokens

You can have multiple digital IDs that you use for different purposes, particularly if you sign documents in different roles or using different certification methods. Digital IDs are usually password protected. They can be stored on your computer in PKCS #12 file format. Digital IDs can also be stored on a smart card, hardware token, or in the Windows certificate store. Roaming IDs can be stored on a server. Acrobat includes a default signature handler that can access digital IDs from various locations. Register the digital ID in Acrobat for it to be available for use.

Store certificates on directory servers

Directory servers are commonly used as centralized repositories of identities within an organization. The server acts as an ideal location to store user certificates in enterprises that use certificate encryption. Directory servers let you locate certificates from network servers, including Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) servers. After you locate a certificate, you can add it to your list of trusted identities so that you don't have to look it up again. By developing a storage area for trusted certificates, you or a member of your workgroup can facilitate the use of encryption in the workgroup.

For more information about directory servers, see the Digital Signature Guide (PDF) at www.adobe.com/go/learn_acr_security_en.

Import directory server settings (Windows only)

You import directory server settings using security import/export methodology or a security settings file. Before, you import settings in a file using import/export methodology, ensure that you trust the file provider before opening it.

Open the Preferences dialog box.

Under Categories, select Signatures.

For Document TimeStamping, click More.

Select Directory Servers on the left, and then click Import.

Select the import/export methodology file, and click Open.

If the file is signed, click the Signature Properties button to check the current signature status.

Click Import Search Directory Settings.

Click OK, if prompted, to confirm your choice.

The directory server appears in the Security Settings dialog box.

Export directory server settings (Windows only)

Although it is preferable to export security settings, you can export directory settings as an import/export methodology file. Use the file to configure the directory server on another computer.

Open the Preferences dialog box.

Under Categories, select Identity.

Enter your name, organization, and email address to create your profile.

Under Categories, select Signatures.

For Document Timestamping, click More.

Select Directory Servers on the left, and then select one or more servers on the right.

Click Export, select a destination, and click Next.

To prove that the file came from you, click Sign, add your signature, and then click Next.

To save the file, specify its name and location, and click Save.
To send the file as an email attachment, type an email address in the To box, click Next, and then click Finish.

Add a timestamp to certificate-based signatures

You can include the date and time you signed the document as part of your certificate-based signature. Timestamps are easier to verify when they are associated with a trusted timestamp authority certificate. A timestamp helps to establish when you signed the document and reduces the chances of an invalid signature. You can obtain a timestamp from a third-party timestamp authority or the certificate authority that issued your digital ID.

Timestamps appear in the signature field and in the Signature Properties dialog box. If a timestamp server is configured, the timestamp appears in the Date/Time tab of the Signature Properties dialog box. If no timestamp server is configured, the signatures field displays the local time of the computer at the moment of signing.

If you did not embed a timestamp when you signed the document, you can add one later to your signature. (See Establish long-term signature validation.) A timestamp applied after signing a document uses the time provided by the timestamp server.

Configure a timestamp server

To configure a timestamp server, you need the server name and the URL, which you can obtain from an administrator or a security settings file.

If you have a security settings file, install it and don't use the following instructions for configuring a server. Ensure that you obtained the security settings file from a trusted source. Don't install it without checking with your system administration or IT department.

Open the Preferences dialog box.

Under Categories, select Signatures.

For Document Timestamping, click More.

Select Time Stamp Servers on the left.

If you have an import/export methodology file with the timestamp server settings, click the Import button. Select the file, and click Open.
If you have a URL for the timestamp server, click the New button. Type a name, and then type the server URL. Specify whether the server requires a username and password, and then click OK.

Set a timestamp server as the default

To be able to use a timestamp server to timestamp signatures, set it as the default server.

Open the Preferences dialog box.

Under Categories, select Signatures.

For Document Timestamping, click More.

Select Time Stamp Servers on the left.

Select the timestamp server, and click the Set Default button .

Click OK to confirm your selection.

Adobe LiveCycle Rights Management (ALCRM) servers

Adobe LiveCycle Rights Management (ALCRM) servers let you define centralized policies to control access to documents. The policies are stored on the ALCRM server. You require server access to use them.

ALCRM servers embed user access information in documents. Therefore, specify document recipients in ALCRM policies. Alternatively, let the ALCRM server retrieve the list of recipients from LDAP directories.

Use ALCRM servers to set permissions for separate document tasks, for example opening, editing, and printing. You can also define document auditing policies on ALCRM servers.