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Participant
September 21, 2018
Answered

When trying to add digital signature screen goes black

  • September 21, 2018
  • 18 replies
  • 134255 views

Hi,

I am using Adobe Reader DC and I would like to digitally sign a document. I have installed my certificate, I think it was successfull. But when I try to digitally sign it, the screen goes black, nothing happens and I have to press Esc to return to the document.

I can see that under the black screen, there is the box where the singature should appear, but it is not working.

Thank you

Stepanka

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Adorobat

Hi Stepanka,

As per the issue description mentioned above, you are facing issue when trying to sign a pdf using digital signature, is that correct?

Please try following troubleshooting steps:

Launch Reader > Edit > Preferences > Signatures .

Under Creation & Appearance > click More > uncheck use modern user interface for signing....

Relaunch Reader and check.

Also, try signing another pdf file using certificates and try again.

Also, let us know dot version of Reader and the operating system installed on the machine? You may refer to the steps given in this link on how to check the version in Acrobat: Identify the product and its version for Acrobat and Reader DC

Let us know if you need any help.

Shivam

18 replies

Participant
June 12, 2024

adobe and microsoft teams are in a contest for most unusable software

Participant
September 14, 2022

Anyone who encounters similar behaviour in a virtualized environment may find this useful.

I encountered this issue with blank screens for Signature and other features after updating from Reader 2018.x to DC 2022.x in my organization's Virtualized Citrix Desktop (VAD) environment. The Fix I had to employ was to add the three Adobe processes to the UviProcessExcludes list for all VAD hosts at HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\CtxUvi\UviProcessExcludes for DC Version 2022 the additions to the list should be  'otherprocesses.exe.....;Acrobat.exe;AcroCEF.exe;RdrCEF.exe'. Further Details can be found on the post I made at the bottom of page three here https://discussions.citrix.com/topic/403607-after-upgrading-715-ltsr-cu1-to-1906-opening-adobe-reade...

 

Please mark this as an accepted answer if this works for you!

Participant
March 3, 2022

I had the same issue and tried almost all of the answers in the thread and none worked.

 

What solved it for me was to change my Windows Theme back to Light, then reboot my computer.

 

Good luck.

Participant
January 13, 2022

What worked for me was completing the previously mentioned "Launch Reader > Edit > Preferences > Signatures >Under Creation & Appearance > click More > uncheck use modern user interface for signing". However, closing out and going back in did nothing. By logging out and logging back into adobe, I was able to correct it. I did not need to uninstall it. When going to the signature function after logging back in, it did hesitate for a moment, so allow it a couple seconds. 

Known Participant
November 17, 2021

Apologies.

Am adding my comment here as my own query which I am trying to post just says I need a label and no idea what that means which means I can not start a question! can any one help, Many thanks

andrewh96165876
Participant
November 12, 2021

This has happened to me a couple of times. I know its inonvenient yet the quickest and easiest way i have found to deal with it is to uninstall and reinstall Adobe. It typically happens to me after some windows updates. Then i spend time trying to figure a work around. Takes me less time to just reinstall.

 

WAiS2020
Participant
June 1, 2021

Hi, I am having the same problem.  The solution proposed above did not work.  I am on a Macbook Pro.  It would be fantastic to have a solution to this, please.

Participant
June 4, 2021

This issue still exists.  Screen goes translucent black when trying to create a signature in Adobe Reader on Mac and hangs.  The only way out seem to be to force quit.  This happens on any PDF document, and I've verified happens on multiple Macs.

 

I've tried all the above steps including wiping preferences, changing interface settings, removing and reinstalling Adobe Reader, running from a separate user profile.

 

This computer is fully updated Catalina (sorry, can't move to Big Sur yet due to incompatibilities).

 

Assistance is appreciated.  I can provide any troubleshooting or debugging resources required.

 

Thanks!

Participating Frequently
June 11, 2021

I’m not finding the proposed solutions helpful either. Black translucent screen with no fields, dialog boxes, or windows. Just a single white pixel dead center of the screen.

Participant
May 27, 2021

I am having this problem too - latest MacOS, latest Adobe. But the pain of changing signatures is getting unbearable. You need to make this easier. I don't just sign on behalf of me, I have to sign on behalf of an aged parent and minor children and each signature change is fraught with issues. You should make this easier - really! 


I'm not sitting with the Black Screen and done everything you suggested and apart from an uninstall, reinstall (WHY SHOULD WE HAVE TO!!!) I am now stuck, again.


PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE fix this!

josh_miles
Participant
April 13, 2021

I was having the same issues in Acrobat DC. I tired the "unchecking" thing, but ultimately uninstalled, then deleted the Acrobat folder from my iMac, and reinstalled Acrobat DC. I left the modern interface unchecked. That seemed to do the trick!

Participant
August 25, 2020

Hello,

 

This worked once I reinstalled Acrobat Reader DC. Thank you!

 

Amy