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Digital Sigs - Question from a Reader (2)

Hey! Looks who's back! Where have you all been? Actually, you don't have to explain...I know you've been out there squeezing the last drop possible out of summer. Hope yours has been as enjoyable as mine. Lets go - here's another question from a reader regarding digital signatures:

...I am envisioning receiving a pdf contract via email and then affixing my pdf signature to it to sign it. Is there some mechanism that prevents someone from copying my signature on the other end and putting it on other documents.  And if there is, is there also some mechanism that keeps my signature affixed to the pdf document that I have attached it to, so that it cannot be moved..say..to another version of the contract?

These are pretty tricky questions as the scenario he suggests has a yes, no and/or maybe answer and so many variations to that answer. Lets break it down into two parts: 1) receiving a PDF and "signing" that very PDF file 2) preventing someone from reusing MY signature.

Let's back up and remind ourselves that in previous posts we had been discussing the use of a signature image to "sign" a WORD document. In this scenario, we are looking to sign a PDF file while leaving it as PDF then returning it as a PDF file. Ya with me?

So how do we make this happen - that is how do we get to YES! You can easily sign  a PDF file with your "signature" IF two conditions are true: 1) you have a version of Adobe Acrobat or Standard that allows you to create stamps and 2) the document hasn't been secured by the sender. Here are a couple of sites that describe in great detail how to create that signature stamp:

• Acrobat for Legal Professionals: Creating Custom Stamps
• U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina: Adding a Signature Stamp to a PDF

Above I mention that you can sign PDF files that haven't been secured..next post we'll cover that which also answers Part 2 of this readers question. Until then!

Digital (Image) Signatures...Step 2 (with Adobe)

There are many software tools that can be used to capture an image of your signature. We are using Adobe Acrobat (Pro or Standard) in this example; if you don't have it, standby, next post is on getting on without it. Assuming you DO have it and you have scanned in your signature (step 1), follow these steps to using the SnapShot tool:

1. Open the file in Acrobat - we're talking version 8 here (varies in different versions so look around for it, if you have an old version, you might not even have it).
2. In version 8 go to Tools > Select & Zoom > Snapshot Tool (it's possible the Snapshot tool is already on your toolbar - it's a little camera). You won't see anything on the screen once the Snapshot tool has been activated, but your cursor will have changed to cross-hairs.
3. Now drag to draw a rectangle box  around your signature (dragging from top left corner to bottom-right corner and click to release your mouse). Again, not much will happen but you will see a highlighted box around the area you selected. Be sure to get in close to the sig without touching it. You can do it over and over until you get it just right.You'll get a message box from Acrobat letting you know that the image has been copied your clipboard.(If you cut or copy anything else after this, you will come back and repeat step 3.)
4. We need to move that image off the clipboard and into a working file. Again, there are many tools that will allow you to do this, for our general purposes, we are going to use PowerPoint. You'll want to launch PowerPoint and have a slide on the screen (doesn't matter if it's blank or not, when we're done you will close PPT without saving anything) - now place your cursor anywhere on that slide and paste (CRTL + V or right-click > Paste) to move the capture off the clipboard.
5. Hopefully you will see a nice image of your signature on the screen. Once you do, right-click directly on that image and select "Save as Picture".
6. Simply put, you will be creating a clip-art of your signature that can be inserted into a Word document (and many other apps). Name the file and save it as a jpeg (the default "Save as type"). Be sure to put it somewhere easy to find.

That's it, that's all it takes. Now go to Word, place your cursor where you want that image to sit - then to, Insert > Picture > From File (be sure the Files of Type box says "All Files") and browse to your signature image to stick it. (Don't forget to print your document to PDF before sending it out via email).

Good start for now, we'll soon talk about creating shortcuts to getting that sig into a document as well as some other cool things we can do with the SnapShot tool in Adobe. If you have any trouble or questions, email me.