Lock only the Digital Signature

[HDP123]

Hi, Is there a way we can just lock the digital signature? Example: After signing the PDF document, the signer too should not be able to remove the signature. I know there is an option to lock a document while signing but that will lock the whole document. I want to just lock that particular signature signed by me so that nobody including myself should not be able to clear it. Any workaround will be helpful too.

Thank You

[MikelKlink]

When designing the signature field, you can select which form fields shall be locked when the signature field is signed; simply add the name of the signature field itself.
Beware, though:

I want to just lock that particular signature signed by me so that nobody including myself should not be able to clear it. Any workaround will be helpful too.

Should not be able to clear it with which tools? Are you only thinking of manipulations using Adobe Acrobat? Or should clearing the field be impossible with arbitrary tools? Because as long as your signature is the last one added to a given PDF, it's technically trivial to remove it.

[HDP123]

Hi, Thanks for your quick response.

When you say "When designing the signature field", do you mean through Adobe? Because while signing, I only see one option - that is "Lock Document" which I do not want as the entire document will be uneditable after clicking that. Could you elaborate on that please.

Also,  I am open to any tool for manipulations including Java to create a digital signature and locking it. However, have not got any solution using that too. 

Thank You

[MikelKlink]

I'm sorry - my previous message was based on the PDF specification alone, I didn't check the actual behavior of Acrobat.

According to the specification the mechanism I referred to above - field locking - and also the field flags set by Acrobat during signing forbid any post-signing changes to the field value and responses to mouse clicks on the field widgets.

I just tested this with Acrobat. As it turns out, Acrobat does not correctly implement the specification, clearing the field remains possible and the mouse-clicks on the field trigger responses.

Whether this is to be considered an unwanted bug or non-conformance by design I cannot tell.

[HDP123]

No worries. Thank you.

[MeenakshiNegi]

Hi HDP123,

Thank you for reaching out.

If you are the signer, there is nothing much you can do on your end.

In Acrobat Sign, the whole document gets encrypted after all the signers fill up the form. Also, once you sign and submit the document, no one will be able to make any changes to those fields.

Would you mind confirming if the document was sent for signature via Acrobat Sign? Or via another way?

Thanks,

Meenakshi

[HDP123]

Hi @MeenakshiNegi,

Thanks for your response. I agree that after signing the document, the entire document becomes uneditable, which is fine. But, we could clear the existing signature that is applied using Certificates which we want to avoid. And the document was sent via email. 

Thank You.

[MeenakshiNegi]

Hi HDP123,

Sorry for the delay in response.

In that case, you should use Acrobat Sign. Please try to send the document using the Acrobat Sign and check if it works as you need. For more information on how the service works, please refer to the following help page: https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/send-for-signature.html.

As mentioned earlier, nothing can be done if you are a signer.

Let us know if we can be of any help.

Thanks,

Meenakshi

[HDP123]

Thanks for your response Meenakshi. I just saw the Acrobat Sign. It does protects the signature. However, my trial license is ending. So can't test anymore. Is there a way I could extend the trial version so that I can test more with the Acrobat Sign and suggest our client regarding the same.

Thank You.

[MeenakshiNegi]

Hi HDP123,

I am afraid that there is no option to extend the trial. However, you may use your alternate email address for another trial.

Please refer to the following help page to check the different plans for the service: https://www.adobe.com/sign/pricing/plans.html.

Let us know if you have any questions or need any help.

Thanks,

Meenakshi

[HDP123]

Hi Meenakshi,

I checked few videos ofAcrobat Sign. And it sems it has got the "Delete Signature" option when the "Advanced Editing" is turned ON. Do you have any other way for this?

Thank you.