Adobe 22002486 Digital Signature User Guide - Page 90

Signing With a Certification Signature

Page 90 highlights

Acrobat 9 Family of Products Security Feature User Guide Signing Documents Signing User Interface 90  Approval Signature: An approval signature is any signature that was applied without choosing Certify Document. Any signature other the first one must be an approval signature. Use approval signatures for the following:  For any signature other than the first.  When you do not need to attest to the document content.  When you do not need to restrict what a document recipient can do with the document.  When you are approving a document or form for further processing; for example, a purchase order. 6.1.3 Signing User Interface Signing features are accessible in several ways which vary depending on whether a document already contains signature fields or signatures:  Pull down menus: Pull down menus provide menu items for signing, certifying, and working with signed documents. Items are enabled and disabled based on the current state of the document and what the author has allowed.  Right click menus: For signed documents, right clicking on any signature in the Signatures pane or in the document displays a context menu. Menu items allow you to clear or validate a signature as well as to view the signature's properties.  Click on a signature field: Clicking on a signature field automatically invokes the Sign Document dialog. 6.2 Signing With a Certification Signature Certifying a document enables the first signer attest to its contents and specify the types of changes permitted for the document to remain certified. Certification helps document authors and recipients determine that documents are legitimate and tamper-proof, thereby enabling trustworthy online transactions and more secure communications. For example, suppose that a government agency creates a form with signature fields. When the form is complete, the agency certifies the document and allows users to change only form fields and sign the document. Users can fill in the form and sign the document, but if they remove pages or add comments, the document does not retain its certified status. Certifying a document helps ensure that it is not altered without the author's approval. Certified documents display the following (Figure 63):  Blue ribbon icon: An icon appears next to the digital signature and in the Signature tab.  Document restrictions: The Signature tab displays the certifier-specified restrictions.  Explicitly trusted but potentially dangerous content: A list appears in the Signature tab, if any.  Certification attestation: Depending on user preferences (see , a signer-specified reason for signing may appear in the Signature tab and the signature appearance. Before certifying, be aware of the following:  Certification locks certain document elements and limits what a document recipient can do with it.

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Acrobat 9 Family of Products
Signing Documents
Security Feature User Guide
Signing User Interface
90
Approval Signature
: An approval signature is any signature that was applied without choosing Certify
Document. Any signature other the first one must be an approval signature. Use approval signatures
for the following:
For any signature other than the first.
When you do not need to attest to the document content.
When you do not need to restrict what a document recipient can do with the document.
When you are approving a document or form for further processing; for example, a purchase order.
6.1.3
Signing User Interface
Signing features are accessible in several ways which vary depending on whether a document already
contains signature fields or signatures:
Pull down menus
: Pull down menus provide menu items for signing, certifying, and working with
signed documents. Items are enabled and disabled based on the current state of the document and
what the author has allowed.
Right click menus
: For signed documents, right clicking on any signature in the Signatures pane or in
the document displays a context menu. Menu items allow you to clear or validate a signature as well as
to view the signature’s properties.
Click on a signature field
: Clicking on a signature field automatically invokes the Sign Document
dialog.
6.2
Signing With a Certification Signature
Certifying a document enables the first signer attest to its contents and specify the types of changes
permitted for the document to remain certified. Certification helps document authors and recipients
determine that documents are legitimate and tamper-proof, thereby enabling trustworthy online
transactions and more secure communications.
For example, suppose that a government agency creates a form with signature fields. When the form is
complete, the agency certifies the document and allows users to change only form fields and sign the
document. Users can fill in the form and sign the document, but if they remove pages or add comments,
the document does not retain its certified status. Certifying a document helps ensure that it is not altered
without the author's approval.
Certified documents display the following (
Figure 63
):
Blue ribbon icon
: An icon appears next to the digital signature and in the Signature tab.
Document restrictions
: The Signature tab displays the certifier-specified restrictions.
Explicitly trusted but potentially dangerous content
: A list appears in the Signature tab, if any.
Certification attestation
: Depending on user preferences (see , a signer-specified reason for signing
may appear in the Signature tab and the signature appearance.
Before certifying, be aware of the following:
Certification locks certain document elements and limits what a document recipient can do with it.