Adobe Acrobat XI - Manual (Page 411)

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Electronic signatures
Last updated 1/14/2015
Signatures made with the Certify or Sign With Certificate options comply with data protection standards specified by
the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). In addition, both signature types comply with the PDF
Advanced Electronic Signature (PAdES) standard. Acrobat and Reader provide an option to change the default signing
format to a CAdES format. This option is compliant with Part 3 of the PAdES standard. The timestamp capability and
native support for long-term validation of signatures (introduced in Acrobat 9.1) is in compliance with Part 4 of the
PAdES standard. The default signing format, when set up accordingly, is compliant with Part 2 of the PAdES standard.
You can change the default signing method or format, in the Signatures panel of the Preferences dialog box. Under
Creation & Appearance, click More.
Setting up certificate-based signatures
You can expedite the signing process and optimize your results by making the following preparations in advance.
Note: Some situations require using particular digital IDs for signing. For example, a corporation or government agency
can require individuals to use only digital IDs issued by that agency to sign official documents. Inquire about the digital
signature policies of your organization to determine the appropriate source of your digital ID.
• Get a digital ID from your own organization, buy a digital ID (see the Adobe website for security partners), or create
a self-signed one. See Create a self-signed digital ID . You can’t apply a certificate-based signature without a digital id.
Note: You cannot create self-signed digital IDs from within FIPS mode.
• Set the default signing method.
• Create an appearance for your certificate-based signature. (See Create the signature appearance. )
• Use Preview Document mode to suppress any dynamic content that can alter the appearance of the document and
mislead you into signing an unsuitable document. For information about using the Preview Document mode, see
Sign in Preview Document mode .
• Review all the pages in a document before you sign. Documents can contain signature fields on multiple pages.
• Configure the signing application. Both authors and signers should configure their application environment. (See
Set signing preferences. )
For details on the full range of configuration options in enterprise settings, see the Digital Signatures Guide
• Choose a signature type. Learn about approval and certification signatures to determine the type you should choose
to sign your document. (See Signature types .)
Set signing preferences
Signing workflow preferences control what you can see and do when the signing dialog box opens. You can allow
certain actions, hide and display data fields, and change how content affects the signing process. Setting signing
preferences impacts your ability to see what you are signing. For information on the available signing preferences, see
“Signing Workflow Preferences” in the Digital Signature Guide at
www.adobe.com/go/learn_acr_security_en .