Signing PDF files enables the receipient to verfiy, that the document is from the relevant person and has not been modified after signing. This is done with a private/public key mechanism. The private key is used to encrypt a fingerprint of the document (the hash). This can be decrypted with the public key and then be compared with a hash created from the present document. These only match, when private and public key match and the document has not been modified.
Certificate file: A digital Certificate in a PFX12 file that is enable to create digital signatures. It stores the private key which is used to encrypt the hash value. You can either type in the path or use the “…” button to search through your system.
Set password: You can save the password, to skip the request during the print job. The opened Dialog automatically checks if the password is valid for the certificate. To delete the saved password, just press Remove in the Set password Dialog. Afterwards you must leave the Profile Settings with Save.
Note
For automatic saving, you must set all required passwords.
Reason: The reason for the cerfitifacte. This is a piece of text that describes why the document is signed.
Contact: The name of the contact person that signed the file.
Location: Place (Country, City etc.) where the file has been signed.
Display Signature: There are three options for displaying the signature on a pdf, namely Text, Image, and Image and Text. With No Display the display of the signature is deactivated. All options, apart from No Diplay, create a signature field in the PDF file showing the validity of the signature. Depending upon the selection, there are several options for customizing the signature display.
Each signature display selection has the option of customizing the location of the signature field. The position of the field is based on two factors: The page it is placed on and the relative location and size on the page itself.
Page Selection: The user has the option of placing the signature field on any page in the document by selecting one of the options in the dropdown menu. If the selection is custom page the signature will appear on the page present in the input field next to the page selection dropdown menu.
Relative Location and Size: The relative location and size of a signature field on a page is defined by coordinates. To change the position of the signature the user is required to click the wrench button and modify the parameters. The size of the signature is defined by the Width and Height parameters, while the location is defined by the From Left and From Bottom parameters. The units with which the coordinates will be computed can be seleced through the Units of measurement dropdown.
Text: The text option displays the signature information on the previously defined relative location and size. There are options of changing the font family, font color, and the option of fitting (and centering) the text to the size of the signature field.
Image: The image option displays an image in the signature field. The image can be selected in several ways:
Entering the path to the desired image in the Signature Image input field
Pressing the Add Token button and constructing a path using tokens
Pressing the Choose File button and selecting the desired image file
Pressing the pen button and drawing a custom signature digitally.
When drawing a custom signature the user has the option of modifying the brush size and color. The custom signature method requires that the canvas is saved to a file after drawing. Upon pressing the Save To File button below the canvas, it is adjusted to the size of the drawing and the signature file has a transparent background. The path to this file is automatically added to the image input field.
Text and Image: Inserts the info text for the signature above the selected image.