Digitally sign a form

When filling out a form, you may be able to add a digital signature to part or all of the form.

In this article

Before you begin

Sign an entire form

Sign one or more sections of a form

Remove a digital signature from a form

Review digital signatures in a form

Before you begin

You can digitally sign a form only if it has been designed to accept digital signatures.

In addition, you must have a digital certificate installed on your computer. If you do not have a digital certificate, see your system administrator, contact a certification authority (such as VeriSign, Inc.), or request a certificate from your network's default certification authority.

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Sign an entire form

When you digitally sign an entire form, the digital signature is not visible within the content of the form. Once signed, the form cannot be altered without invalidating the signature.

1. On the Standard toolbar, click Digital Signatures , and then in the Digital Signatures dialog box, click Add.

2. In the Select the Data to Sign dialog box, make sure that Entire_form is selected, and then click OK.

   Note: If you don't see this option, the form designer may intend for you to sign parts of the form instead of signing the entire form. In this circumstance, refer to the procedure for signing one or more sections of a form that appears later in this article.

3. In the Signature dialog box, type a comment to save with the signature in the Purpose for signing this document box.

4. At the bottom of the Signature dialog box, review the certificate information.

   Tip: To use a different certificate, click Change. In the Select Certificate dialog box, click the certificate that you want to use as your digital signature, and then click OK.

5. Click See additional information about what you are signing.

6. In the Additional Information dialog box, closely review what you intend to sign, including the image of the form content and the information associated with the signature, and then click OK.

7. In the Signature dialog box, click Sign.

8. In the Digital Signatures dialog box, review the signature information, and then click Close.

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Sign one or more sections of a form

1. On the Standard toolbar, click Digital Signatures , and then in the Digital Signatures dialog box, click Add.

   Note: If it's available, you can also click the Click here to sign this section command on the form itself.

2. In the Select the Data to Sign dialog box, select the part of the form that you want to sign, and then click OK.

3. In the Signature dialog box, do one of the following:

   • To sign the section, type your name in the signature box.

   • To use an image for the signature instead of typed text, click Select Image, and then locate and select the image that you want to use.

4. In the Purpose for signing this document box, type a comment to save with the signature.

5. At the bottom of the dialog box, review the certificate information.

   Tip: To use a different certificate, click Change. In the Select Certificate dialog box, click the certificate that you want to use as your digital signature, and then click OK.

6. Click See additional information about what you are signing.

7. In the Additional Information dialog box, closely review what you intend to sign, including the image of the form content and the information associated with the signature, and then click OK.

8. In the Signature dialog box, click Sign.

9. In the Digital Signatures dialog box, review the signature information, and then click Close.

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Remove a digital signature from a form

1. On the Standard toolbar, click Digital Signatures . The Digital Signatures dialog box displays all of the digital signatures that are associated with the form.

2. In the Digital Signatures dialog box, click the signature that you want to remove, and then click Remove.

   Note: In some cases, you must remove the most recent signature before you can remove the preceding signatures.

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Review digital signatures in a form

Depending on the design of the form, digital signatures may appear in the form under each signed section. If this is the case, you can click the signature that you want to review. If you don't see digital signatures on the form itself, you can use the following procedure to find out whether a form is digitally signed and to review information about existing digital signatures for the form.

1. On the Standard toolbar, click Digital Signatures . The Digital Signatures dialog box displays all of the digital signatures that are associated with the form.

2. In the Digital Signatures dialog box, do one of the following:

   • To view the image of the form that was signed by using a particular signature, click the signature, and then click View Signed Form.

   • To view the certificate that was used to sign the form, select the signature, and then click View Certificate.

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