Electronic Signature - Expert PDF - Quicker Contracts, Better Business
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Digital signatures are the most secure document approval option available to companies. Some countries, like the United States, require digital signatures in certain circumstances. Important business documents like contracts, proposals, invoices, and others are most commonly shared as PDFs.
People often confuse digital signatures with electronic signatures. And understanding what separates the two is essential for determining which one is appropriate for a particular document. An electronic signature is any digital mark that is included in a document.
Some electronic signatures are more secure than others. A tool like PandaDoc, for example, automatically generates a certificate with the date and time whenever a document is signed, which makes it more difficult for the signer to refute their approval later on. A digital signature, on the other hand, is a highly-secure form of approval that relies on technology like secure keys, encryption, and hashing algorithms.
The basic concept is relatively straightforward. In short, digital signature software creates a unique copy of the document that is linked to you. This makes it virtually impossible for anybody to change a contract or deny that they signed it. Digital signatures rely on a public key infrastructure PKI to enable creation and verification.
You will likely need digital signature capabilities in your company if you negotiate high-level deals, submit certain types of documents to the government especially in the United States , or work in an industry where there is a significant risk of customers reneging on contracts. Say that Sally sells Bill a car. She sends a sale contract over to Bill, who signs it using his personal key also called a digital certificate , which he purchased from a certificate authority.
He logs into his document management app, opens up the contract, and uploads his digital certificate. Automatically, the app creates a hashed version of the document essentially a long garbled string of letters and numbers using an algorithm.
This is called a digest. The encrypted digest is the digital signature. Bill sends the document, to which the digital signature is attached, back to Sally along with the public key. She creates a new hash with the same algorithm and uses the public key to decrypt the digest created by Bill. If both digests match, then she knows the contract has not been changed and it was Bill who signed. You cannot add a digital signature to a PDF file without a certificate.
Alternatively, you might want to opt for a more feature-rich solution that offers advanced document management capabilities. Adobe Acrobat is one of the most popular apps for adding digital signatures to PDF documents. Follow the steps below to add a signature:.
Adding digital signatures to PDFs is much easier with a dedicated app. A solution like PandaDoc allows you to upload, store, and track all of your PDF documents from one secure dashboard. Adding signatures to PDFs takes only a few clicks, and all recipient signatures and signed documents are stored safely on our secure servers. You can take advantage of a free trial on any of our premium packages.
We also have a forever-free electronic signature plan , the only solution in the industry to offer unlimited document uploads and e-signatures with no strings attached. Home Ask. How to add digital signatures to PDF documents Digital signatures are the most secure document approval option available to companies.
Do you need a digital signature or an electronic signature? What is an electronic signature? What is a digital signature? How do digital signatures work? Follow the steps below to add a signature: Open your document in Adobe Acrobat.
Click the Tools tab and scroll down to the Forms and Certificates section. Select Open from the Certificates dropdown menu. Click on Digitally Sign from the new options bar. Select the digital signature you want to use and click Continue. If you have not yet added a digital signature certificate to Adobe Acrobat, select Configure New Digital ID and follow the on-screen prompts. Configure the appearance of the signature and select Sign. Drag the Signature field to the relevant place in the PDF.
Double click on your new field and follow the on-screen prompts to add your signature. Why not opt for a dedicated solution? Try for free. Contact Sales Today
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