Electronically Signing Documents?

paulyjames · 18 Sep 2016

Not sure if this is the right subforum to post this on, if not, can a mod put it in the right subforum?

I usually sign documents or any document by printing it out, signing it, then have to scan it. Then email it back etc.

Does anyone have recommendation of which program to electronically sign a document? I have adobe reader and the file that i have to sign is a pdf file that i open with adobe. It allows me to print my name and put my signature. I use my mouse though to sign it and doing this, well making a signature with my mouse is obviously a lot harder than with a pen etc. I did download adobe fill and sign on my iphone but it seems very confusing to use.

Do most people sign documents with their mouse? Or most just do a signature on a piece of paper... then use their phone and take picture of it. Then use that signature and just drag it to any document that require signature.

Thanks.

Techymike · 18 Sep 2016

Docusign will allow you about 30 days free then you have to pay. Most temp agency places use that one. Hope it helps.

MoxieMomma · 18 Sep 2016

Hi:

Digitally/electronically signing a document is used most often in business/work environments, as it's more secure and more convenient than an ink signature -> scan -> email, as it eliminates the need to print out, sign and then scan the file.

I could be wrong, but I do not think that a PDF READER, such as the free "Acrobat Reader DC" (aka Adobe Reader), offers a digital signature feature.

I think you will need some sort of PDF EDITOR software, such as Adobe Acrobat or an equivalent, either free or paid. If you search this forum and perhaps our sister forum at tenforums.com, there are several recent threads about different 3rd-party options.

HTH,
MM

Alejandro85 · 18 Sep 2016

Depending on what do you want to do with the signature, a print-sign-scan would suffice, or an edit of the document would be needed. But all that does is to provide the "eye candy" of a paper signature. It has legal value on real life documents, bht more often than not is totally useless on anything digital.

When people talk about digital signatures often they talk about a cryptographic process involving a trusted certificate. It provides significant advantages over a hand writen signature, but of course requires significant technical understanding of what a digital signature is and how to use and verify its autenticy.
Found this that us very relevant about the topic, although it refers to Office thr concepts are equally aplicable:
https://support.office.com/en-us/art...3-a5023bdab44a

That said, other forms of signatures can be still used to PDF files. Adobe Reader can be used to create such signatures (contrary to what its name suggests). Here is a short guide on the topic:
How to Electronically Sign Documents Without Printing and Scanning Them