Digital Signatures - Advanced class

The other day I attended a free online webinar by some Adobe gurus who dove deep into the arcana of digital signatures.  After the dive I realized that I had a mild case of the bends.

Here's the problem.  Like most people who don't live in an 'enterprise world,' where there's a rigorous document review cycle, I just want to sometimes slap a 'digital signature' on a document and not have the recipient feel like I've sent them some bizarre totemic glyph.  

My needs are simple.  Apparently, true digital signatures are not.

I've written a short blurb (on my Digital Workflow site) on how to take your basic signature and turn it into a stamp that you can slap on any document that requires ye olde John Hancock.  This is not a true digital signature, but it makes people happy.  

That would be in stark contrast to the signature example set forth below:

 

When people see this kind of signature they immediately present a glum countenance.  Then they hastily reach for the phone to tell you how unhappy your digital signature has made them. 

Basically, as the guy said in the movie Cool Hand Luke, what we have here is a failure to communicate. So, let's break digital signatures down and find out where the communication problem comes from. 

A signature, digital or not, has to satisfy two elements: (1) non-repudiability, and (2) acceptance by the receiving party.  In other words, the point of signing a document is so the recipient knows it's from you, and that you can't deny it's from you (i.e. you can't repudiate authorship of the document).  Digital signatures are far superior to regular signatures in this arena.  Where they fail miserably is in the 'acceptance' part.

Because digital signatures are not familiar to most people they freak out if they see a bunch of numbers where they're used to seeing indecipherable human scrawl.  So, how to remedy this problem?  

The quick and dirty fix is to do what I outline in that blurb I mentioned a few sentences ago. Just create a stamp and slap that on the document you want to 'sign.'  It won't be secure like a real digital signature (and if you want to repudiate it you can say your secretary exceeded her authority and stamped it without your knowledge).  But, let's say you're a fair-minded, by-the-rules kind of guy (or gal).  Is there another option?

Turns out there is (although this wasn't covered in the Adobe webinar; I had to find it myself using a snorkle).  Here are some steps:

1. Do all the stuff in that blurb, which will result in you having a .PNG file with a graphic of your signature. Keep that in a handy place on your computer hard drive. 
2. Then when you're ready to sign the document open it in Acrobat and find the 'signing' icon (look for a graphic that looks like a tilted blue ballpoint pen (or look for the menu ADVANCED > SIGN AND CERTIFY). 
3. You will then be presented with a dialogue box that looks like this: 

   

Do not click sign, or else your recipient will see weird stuff that will make them not accept your document. Instead, note where it says 'Appearance' in the dialogue box and select the drop down menu and look for 'Create New Appearance' as in the graphic below:

At this point you will be shown a new dialogue box like the one set out below. 

So, you'll want to do two things here.  First, you'll import the .PNG graphic that I told you about in step #1.  This will introduce that indecipherable scrawl which is really the key to getting your signature accepted by people you send your documents to.  

But, second, and most important, you'll want to uncheck ALL of those boxes under the 'Configure Text' section.  Like this:

After you do this, fill in the 'Title' field to name your new 'signature profile' (I suggest you choose something like 'Basic signature' but it's up to you).  Then next time you go to sign a document you can just use the 'signature' tool and imprint a real live 'digital signature.'  But with the added benefit of being something that the recipient will actually accept.

In our next (super-dooper) advanced class we'll cover how to trade verification certificates with people who actually care about real digital signatures.  But, for now, I'll close out by saying...

Comments

[Bryan Sims]

This is so awesome. Thanks. I sat through that webinar as well. I felt like I was lost 90% of the time. I appreciate that you took the time to pull something useful out of that for us.

[yclipse]

There is another function that digital signatures serve: confirming that the document has not been modified since it was signed, and thus that its contents are authentic. How does this approach affect that other function?

[Wahaj]

Well Adobe is pretty much rigid when it comes to signature appearance designing. One can use a much flexible software called PDF Sign&Seal instead of using Adobe where you can put more than 1 images and play with the alignment of fields to be placed inside the signature appearance. Also support Tablet PC to create ink based images.

[Tomasz Stasiuk]

Thanks so much for this. I have been avoiding creating a digital signature for some time. It's not hard, it is just another thing to get done. Thank you for providing a walk-through!