Participant

Question

Adobe Acrobat Pro DC will not allow second signature

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
October 28, 2020
5 replies
7575 views

I've been a long-time user of Adobe Acrobat Pro products for over twenty years, and during that time I have never had trouble digitally signing documents until now. In the past month or so (Sept-Oct 2020), I've noticed that if a colleage sends me a PDF document to sign after already having signed it him/herself, I cannot add my signature field to it. The document is locked for any further editing, including adding form fields such as digital signatures. The Fill & Sign features also does not work because the first author of the document did not add a second signature field for me to sign.

The only workarounds I've found that work are: 1) Ask the person to go back to the original unsigned document, add two signature fields, sign one, and send to me to sign the other; and 2) Just send me the original unsigned document, I add a signature field for my signature, and send to the person to then add the second signature. While these do skirt around the problem, they do not solve it.

Why can I no longer add a second signature field to a document that already has one? Did the default behvaior change to always lock documents now upon signing? I've asked my colleages to check this, and they have confirmed that from their end, the properties show the document is not locked. However, when I check on my end, it says the document is locked. Note that I am running Adobe Acrobat Pro DC Continuous 2020.012.20048 for Mac. Most of my colleages are running the same on Windows, but I've now had the same issue with a person using the Mac version sending me a signed PDF. I feel I need to revert to a prior release of the software before this potential bug was introduced. Please help. Thanks!

ls_rbls

Community Expert

++Adding to the discussion

Is the person sending the signed document also using Adobe Acrobat to employ a certificate-based digital signature or are they employing an electronic signature using a different PDF viewer or editor (.i.e. web browser like Microsoft Edge using Fill & Sign with the Acrobat Extension)??

At a first glance to your issue, it seems like the main frustration arises from not having a standardized workflow.

That said, would you experience the same issue if, instead of emailing a signed PDF document via email, employ Adobe Sign in this workflow. Have you tried this? (just curious… to rule out if it is indeed a bug)

Daryl M

Participant

There are two “internal” signatures required and one “external” signature required. We can’t even apply the two internal signatures. As soon as one signature is applied, it’s not possible to apply the second. We are using Acrobat. The internal signatures are self-signed, but they are trusted by all parties. Acrobat is not even giving the option when the first signature is applied to not lock the document. This is not a “feature”. If Acrobat cannot apply more than one signature, Adobe should not claim to offer a signing service.

ls_rbls

Community Expert

There are two “internal” signatures required and one “external” signature required. We can’t even apply the two internal signatures. As soon as one signature is applied, it’s not possible to apply the second. We are using Acrobat. The internal signatures are self-signed, but they are trusted by all parties. Acrobat is not even giving the option when the first signature is applied to not lock the document. This is not a “feature”. If Acrobat cannot apply more than one signature, Adobe should not claim to offer a signing service.

Yes your observation is spot on.

As mentioned earlier, try employing Acrobat Sign in your workflow.

Even if you are using an individual user subscription of Adobe Acrobat, Acrobat Sign is already natively integrated with your Adobe Acrobat Pro DC software

If you are the producer of the original PDF document, Acrobat Sign will empower you to control a desired signing order (who signs first, who signs last), including the ability to track the status of the document once it is sent out.

Additionally, it gives you overall control of the signing process and reserves you the right to designate who is authorized to digitally sign on a specific signature field (based on that persons email address, for example).

Key benefit of this workflow is that your designated signatory don't need to have Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat installed on their system nor are required to purchase a subscription plan.

Your designated signatories can sign your documents on-the-go using a tablet, a mobile phone device, or a desktop computer along with a web browser (also regardless of operating system ; MacOS, Linux OS, Microsoft Windows, iOS, AndroidOS).

For larger groups and organizations, a subscription to a Teams or Business plan may be required (which unleashes other additional useful features).

Give it a try and post back with feedback.

I think this will improve the issue that you are experiencing.

Daryl M

Participant

I’m experiencing a similar problem. We have an external document that requires three digital signatures after it is filled. Two signatures are required from us and the originator will add the third after we fill and sign it. There is no problem filling the document and applying the first signature, but it’s not possible to apply the second signature. It makes no difference which of us applies the first signature. Once the first signature is applied, when the second person clicks on the box to apply the second signature, nothing happens. In the “Use a certificate” tool, the only thing you can do is validate all signatures. The other options are greyed out.

Our signatures are self-signed and we are trusting each other’s signatures, so the signature panel says all signatures are valid.

What’s strange is that there is no “Lock document after signing” option when the signature is applied. I can’t find anywhere to set this in preferences. It’s missing.

I’m using “Acrobat Studio for Teams”.

This is a fundamental problem. If Acrobat can’t handle multiple digital signatures, it’s broken. This is not a “feature”.

APenNameAndThatA

Participating Frequently

When signature fields are created (so long as they have the little orange stripe at the top left), they can be set to lock all of the form fields, none of the form fields or some of the form fields. When the form is created, the author chooses which fields are to be locked by each signature.

APenNameAndThatA

Participating Frequently

FIGJAM.

Amal.

Legend

Hi Brianshiro

Hope you are doing well and sorry for the confusion and the trouble caused. As described, you are unable to add the signature field to a document that is already signed by another user.

If the signer has choosen to lock the document after signing. In that case, the document becomes read-only and no further changes are allowed; even a signature can’t be added in the document. The Lock document after signing option is useful if you’re the last signer or the only one signer.

Generally, the PDF is locked for editing, but not for signing unless the first signer chooses the Lock document after signing option while signing.

If you’re expecting others to sign the PDF, don’t select the Lock document after signing option in the Sign As dialog box or the Sign Document dialog box as shown in the screenshot below:

For more information please look at the help page https://helpx.adobe.com/in/acrobat/kb/edit-signed-PDF.html

Hope this information will help.

Regards

Amal

J

John32264771wegq

Participant

This is a problem. Adobe seems to treat many many documents (that contain a digital signature) as locked, and refuses to add digital signatures to them. This appears to happen with documents signed by docusign, and documents signed by Adobe (whether or not the "lock document after signing" was clicked). It is very inconvenient for doing business using Adobe Acrobat.

"The Lock document after signing option is useful if you’re the last signer or the only one signer. "

NO. It isn't useful at all. The whole point of a digital signature is to attest to the fact that a document exists at a point in time in a particular state. Why on earth would I be unable to sign a document with the "locked" field on? I have experienced this dozens of times. Every time, enquiring why it's locked so I can't sign it comes back as: "That's weird, I didn't lock it... well, if you can't sign it... use something else... docusign... or just physically sign it." It makes Adobe Acrobat signatures nearly useless. Wish they would change this behavior!

Amal.

Legend

Hi there,

Would you mind sharing the version of the Acrobat Pro you are using? To check the version go to Help > About Acrobat and make sure you have the recent version 23.08.2042X installed. Go to Help > Check for updates and reboot the computer once.

Also, share a sample PDF file for checking at our end.

~Amal

Bernd Alheit

Community Expert

You can't add form fields to a signed document.

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