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A
Anonymous
August 8, 2012
Question

Security settings on this doc prevent signing

  • August 8, 2012
  • 2 replies
  • 30833 views

I created a form with interactive fields. 1) in security settings it says "no security" 2) under Advanced, I "enabled usage rights in Adobe Reader" 3) opening the pdf in Reader X I clicked on the "Sign" button at the top 4) I get the "The security settings on this document prevent adding text ...." pop up in the Sign Pane. 5) I checked the security properties in Reader and it shows everything is allowed. ?????

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2 replies

G
George_Johnson
Inspiring
October 17, 2012

That error message you're seeing is part of the EchoSign functionality, which is different than a digital signature. It is also very confusing, and they have thankfully gotten rid of it with Reader 11. You should still be able to fill-in form fields and sign/place digital signature fields with Reader.

T
tdhahn
Participant
October 22, 2012

I have the same issue in Pro XI, Reader 11, where I have a Digital Signature box and saved the file as Reader Extended \ More Tools. I see the Digital Signature box in Reader 11, but I also get the I "The security settings on this document prevent adding text ...." warning in the Sign Pane. All the signing options are grayed out, except the Send For Signature button of EchoSign.

Thomas

S
SimonATS
Legend
November 20, 2012

Not being able to EchoSign Reader enabled PDF files from within Reader is the correct behaviour. If you were able to do this then any form info filled out will be lost (as currently happens still in version X)

If you have an enabled form, fill it out and save it.

Then sign in to Echosign via www.echosign.com and click the home tab

there make use of the 'Only I sign' option and upload the saved filled out PDF.

Ensure to enable to preview option there so you can add an EchoSign signature field in the correct location.

Steven_Madwin
Adobe Employee
Steven_Madwin
Adobe Employee
October 9, 2012

Hi,

I hope you got the answer to this by now, but just in case you haven't...

You need to use Acrobat Pro to apply the "Sign in Reader" usage right. If you are using Acrobat Standard (as I suspect) then the "Enable Usage Rights" feature does not include the signing right.

Steve

T
TruSake
Participating Frequently
October 16, 2012

and how do I apply the "sign in reader" usage rights?

Steven_Madwin
Adobe Employee
Steven_Madwin
Adobe Employee
October 17, 2012

The file was first created in Word 2010, then I was able to edit it in Adobe Pro 10.1.4 and Adobe Livecycle ES2, I also placed a signature field in the file (is that even needed?) And since I need to be able to save the document with fillable fields, I had to Enable Additional Features on it. Which brings me to this situation where it won't let me sign because of security settings, only a digital signature.

Am I confused? Can I not have a "Digital Signature" and "Place Signature" in the same file? Do they serve different purposes?


First, what is a digital signature? It's a cryptographically sound operation that provides two important pieces of information. It takes a snap-shot of the document at signing time to provide a test of document integrity (if someone were to try and modify the snap-shot it would invalidate the digital signature), and it provides assurance that whomever signed the document is who they say they are.

The question you have to ask yourself is, do I need that kind of security? That is, do I need to ensure the signed portion of the document has not been modified, and is the person that signed the appropriate person for approving the document?

If you decide that yes, you need the security and assurances that a digital signature provides and you can't control what application the signer may be using (i.e. either Acrobat or Reader) then you need to enable the file to be signed in Reader (it can always be signed in Acrobat). In order to enable signing in Reader using Acrobat Pro 10.1.4 do the following:

  • Open the file you want to enable for signing
  • Select the File > Save As > Reader Extended PDF > Enable Additional Features menu item
  • Click the Save Now button on the Enable Usage Rights in Adobe Reader dialog
  • Supply a name and location and then click the Save button on the Save As dialog (note: you can save over the existing file)

Another question you have to ask yourself is do I care where the signature is placed on the PDF file? If you want to control the location of the signature appearance then you need to place the signature field as you noted above. On the other hand, if you don't care where the signature is placed then don't create a signature field and let the signer inscribe a signature field somewhere on the document at signing time. By the way, the document layout (placement of signature fields) should be finalized before you Reader Enable the file.

Steve

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