How to Add a Digital Signature to a PDF Document
Like traditional handwritten signatures, a digital signature must verify the authenticity of the signer's identity for the signed document. Adding a digital signature to a PDF document must confirm two points: first, that the document was indeed signed by the signer; second, that the document content has not been modified in any way from the time it was signed to the time it is received. A document signing certificate can not only verify the real identity of the signer, but also ensure the integrity and reliability of electronic documents. The next question is: after obtaining a document signing certificate, how do you add a digital signature to a PDF document? In general, there are three steps:
- Download and install the SafeNet driver
- Install Adobe Acrobat software
- Add a digital signature to the PDF document
The following uses a Sectigo document signing certificate as an example:
1. Download and install the SafeNet driver to activate the Ukey token
Before using a Ukey token to digitally sign documents, you need to download and install the SafeNet driver. You can download and install SafeNetAuthenticationClient-x64-10.3.msi, which is applicable to Windows 64-bit systems.
Follow the prompts to complete the SafeNet driver installation to activate the Ukey token. For other systems such as other Windows versions, MAC, and Linux, you can download the driver at the following address:
https://support.sectigo.com/Com_KnowledgeDetailPage?Id=kA01N000000zFLx
2. Download and install Adobe Acrobat software
Both individual document signing and enterprise document signing support Adobe PDF format signatures. This section introduces how to add a digital signature to an Adobe PDF document. You will need to download and install Adobe Acrobat software. After successful installation, open the program and the interface will look like this:
3. Add a digital signature to the PDF document
3.1 After completing the above two steps, open the document to be signed in Adobe Acrobat, insert the Ukey token into your computer, and enter the token password (the token password is sent to you via email after the CA issues the certificate), as shown in the figure:
3.2 Click the "Certificates" icon under 【Tools】 in the right-hand menu, click 【Digital Signatures】, then click and drag to draw a signature area at the desired position on the document. In the pop-up dialog box, select the certificate you want to use for signing (if there are multiple certificates on your computer).
In the dialog box, if you want to check the certificate details, simply click "More Details" to view them.
Finally, click Next, then click Sign to complete the signing process.
3.3 Enter a file name and click "Save". A blue bar will appear at the top of the screen for the file, indicating that the PDF file has been signed.
If you have any questions during the operation, please contact Racent customer support for help!