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Mr Bill
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Favorite digital signature signing method?

Sun Feb 07, 2016 9:08 pm

Prior to now, I have been printing out and signing documents for lab reports. My customers would like me to use adobe acrobat to directly print pdfs' because the result is so much more compact. But then I have the problem of signing these reports afterwards. Do you guys just use the adobe service or do you favor another? I see there are half a dozen signing authorities. I'm sure each has different merits. Anybody care to chime in with experiences positive or negative? For what its worth, I have a legal copy of adobe acrobat, an older version. So that would be my preferred platform for concatenating the pdf file.

Another thing that would be convenient is a way to tag the spots in my excel files that I can then auto sign those several dozen locations all at once after I generate the pdf file from the spreadsheets.
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Mr Bill
Gerbil Jedi
Topic Author
Posts: 1819
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2002 7:00 pm
Location: Colorado Western Slope
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Re: Favorite digital signature signing method?

Sun Aug 27, 2017 5:58 pm

After a bit of research I solved this problem. I asked a few other labs what they did and a couple said they just used an image. I signed a sheet of paper and scanned it into my PC. Then I cut and pasted it into paintbrush and deleted all the fill so only the lines of the signature remained. I just import the image in Excel and paste it into my signature boxes in my spreadsheet templates.
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ludi
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Re: Favorite digital signature signing method?

Sun Aug 27, 2017 7:34 pm

Mr Bill wrote:
After a bit of research I solved this problem. I asked a few other labs what they did and a couple said they just used an image. I signed a sheet of paper and scanned it into my PC. Then I cut and pasted it into paintbrush and deleted all the fill so only the lines of the signature remained. I just import the image in Excel and paste it into my signature boxes in my spreadsheet templates.

Depending on how far the applicable regulatory requirements go, you can also create a self-signed certificate within Acrobat and then use Adobe's "Sign with digital certificate..." option. It creates an additional Adobe-generated, password-protected imprint and the option to lock the document. It's pretty easy to do in Acrobat 10+, a little more opaque in the older versions. I have to do this fairly regularly as an engineer, since many states now accept digitally seal-signed documents provided there is a means of locking the document against further edits (a maddeningly inspecific requirement, but the Adobe method is widely used and has never raised complaints).

I use an imported image for my state-issued stamp and signature, and the Adobe certificate to finalize the document.
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BIF
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Re: Favorite digital signature signing method?

Sun Aug 27, 2017 9:13 pm

I love signing things with real ink. Well, except for checks, that is.

But if I have to sign something digitally, I don't really use certificates yet; I"m kind of old-school. Instead, I fetch the document from email with my iPad and export to Goodnotes. Next, I use Goodnotes to rename the document.

Then I'll edit the document with Goodnotes, adding text fields with the keyboard or handwritten via a pen/stylus. Finally, I'll sign the document with said stylus and "goodnotes ink" (any color but black, so that my signature and date will stand out).

Finally, I export from Goodnotes to email and PDF attachment, and cello! Just like that I have an electronic version of my document+cursive signature. So now if necessary, I can print the document and there's my unique signature, in my actual handwriting.
 
Dposcorp
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Re: Favorite digital signature signing method?

Mon Aug 28, 2017 4:57 pm

I use foxit reader to sign my PDFs, and although I have used a stylus to sign and save my name, in a pinch MS Paint and my mouse work to sign :)

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