Participant

Answered

Cannot digitally sign PDFs

Forum|Forum|12 years ago
October 18, 2013
8 replies
223615 views

Hello, recently I was forced to change to Adobe DC at work. We create PDF forms via Word that require digital signatures from various people within the company on a daily basis. I used to be able to sign them without issue and even when I first installed DC, I could sign them. Not today however. And by sign, I am not referring to adding a scanned jpg of my actual signature or scribbling an X with my mouse. I'm talking about digital ID files. I can create a new file any time I want, but I just cannot use it. When I click on the "Fill & Sign" button, the "Request Signatures" button is active, but the "Sign Yourself" button is greyed out. Other people can sign the exact same PDF file. I can't. Any ideas?

Correct answer Meenakshi Negi

Hello,

Thank you for reaching out.

As you are trying to add the digital signature, you do not require the Fill & Sign tool. The signature field in the form is the reason why "Sign yourself" is greyed out. If the field is already added in the form, you can simply click on the field to add the signature.

If there is no form field in the form, use the following steps to digitally sign the PDF.

1. Open the PDF in Acrobat.

2. Go to Tools > Certificates > Digitally Sign.

Let us know if you need any help.

Thanks,

Meenakshi

J

Jerry36833990ffc0

Participant

I have the same problem but the solution offered does not help. Is there a way to downvote the solution. There needs to be a downvote so you can see how bad your answers are. Feedback is a good thing. I really hate having to sign Adobe products digitally because the process fails continually.

splambo

Participating Frequently

1. Open Acrobat on its own, not by opening a document.

2. Edit > Preferences > Signatures > Verification > More...
-Uncheck 'Verify signatures when the document is opened.
-Under 'Verififcation Behavior', select 'Always use the default method'.
-Under 'Verififcation Information', select 'Never'.
-click OK

3. Edit > Preferences > Signatures > Creation & Appearance > More...
- Uncheck 'use modern uder interface'.

4. Exit Acrobat

Open your PDF and use Tools > Certificates > Digitally sign.

K

karthik32870957iy4v

Participant

I want to place the logo and stamp it on pff and seal it using code or
using APIs any suggested way to do this.

KARTHIK

S

Soorya31232798xwlf

Participant

Hi !
First Step : click ctrl + p to print the pdf and save it as a new pdf.
Second Step : Open the newly saved pdf and now you can sign it .

F

FrancesWa

Participant

Thank You!! This was the simplest and most fool-proof method to accomplish this.

J

J28744090uxo0

Participant

I have a PDF document. I can fill into this document without any issues and save it. However, when I try to sign it, the top section "Sign Yourself" is grayed out. Could you please advise? Thank you.

AkanchhaS8194121

Legend

Hi @J28744090uxo0

Thanks for sharing the screenshot.

It seems like all the signing options are disabled for the form. If it's a fillable form, then please check the following details:

1- If you have the signature filed assigned already.

2- Check whether the form was filled and saved earlier. And after reopening, its signing feature is greyed out.

3- Check the document properties and see whether you have enabled the Signing properties.

Open document>Ctrl+d>document properties> Security>Signing allowed or not.

Thanks,

Akanchha

T

tobywearefine

Inspiring

Hi, I have an issue regarding digital signatures that I really need a solution too...

I have created a document in inDesign & used the 'Prepare From' functionality which worked really well, however, I can't seem to get it to work on other devices, ie; PC's, this document is going to be hosted on a clients website & needs to be signed by people on various devices. I'm not looking to sign this myself. I need to be able to find a solution that allows the document to be signed by anyone on different devices, whether that's a tablet or a desktop device. Do you know if this is possible?

Thanks

Toby

Meenakshi Negi

Correct answer

Community Manager

Hello,

Thank you for reaching out.

As you are trying to add the digital signature, you do not require the Fill & Sign tool. The signature field in the form is the reason why "Sign yourself" is greyed out. If the field is already added in the form, you can simply click on the field to add the signature.

If there is no form field in the form, use the following steps to digitally sign the PDF.

1. Open the PDF in Acrobat.

2. Go to Tools > Certificates > Digitally Sign.

Let us know if you need any help.

Thanks,

Meenakshi

L

LazerBoiAuthor

Participant

Yes. I was able to finally figure it out yesterday after talking with others within the company using the same software. It is not intuitive where such functionality is placed.

E

etan21

Participant

I have a PDF document that I need to sign digitally, but whenever I choose FILL AND SIGN, I am unable to do so as it is saying that "The author of this form has specified the field which you can fill. Click on any field to start filling form." I cannot paste my signature as well. I think the form is also secured. Please help. THANK YOU.

Amal.

Community Manager

Hi Ellery_tan,

Thanks for reaching out. as described above, you are unable to sign digitally sign PDF, correct?

Have you got the PDF which is already signed, and trying to sign it with your signature?

Its a design behavior, once the PDF is signed it gets locked for further editing. You wont be able to edit, once the PDF is signed the document becomes read-only and no further changes are allowed; even a signature can't be added in the document.

If you're the only one signer, you can remove your signature and work on the document. If the document is signed by others, you can request the initiator to share an unsigned copy or the source document with you.

As stated above, the form is secured, you need to contact the author/creator of the pdf to get the access to edit the file.

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

Hope it helps

Regards

Amal

Amal.

Community Manager

Hi Amal,

This is constantly happening to me with Adobe Acrobat - as well as many other people. Someone scans a form and sends it to me. I then receive this error message and am unable to sign it. Does Adobe have plans to fix this?

Hi Amy

Hope you are doing well and sorry to hear that.

Is this an issue with a particular PDF file or with all the PDFs that you try to sign? Please try with a different PDF file and check.

What is the workflow/steps you are doing to sign the PDF file? A small video recording of the same would be very helpful.

Also, please share the screenshot of the error message and the PDF file in question so that we can check it at our end. https://helpx.adobe.com/document-cloud/help/sharing-pdfs.html

Regards

Amal

B

bradq11575501

Participant

I have received a document that has been digitally signed. I need to apply my signature to countersign the contract. When I click 'Fill and Sign' on the right, I do not see my normal options for pasting in my signature. Is there a way to countersign a document like this? Or am I stuck printing it off and manually signing it. I have saved these PDFs as a Word file before, only to convert back into PDF. There has to be a way to get this done, but I am to much of a novice in Adobe. I have searched for a solution but have come up with nothing.

I appreciate any advice or help anyone can offer, thank you.

Sarojini_Nagar

Community Manager

Hi Brad Qualls,

Could you please let us know the adobe application you are using and also the OS version on your system?

To digitally sign a document you need to select the certificates option from Tools.

You can navigate to tools pane and type " Certificates" in the search box. And then select "digital sign" option .

Please refer this article : Digital IDs in Acrobat DC and Certificate-based signatures, Adobe Acrobat DC

Let us know if this helps.

Regards

Sarojini

B

bradq11575501

Participant

Hi Sarojini,

I am running OS X Yosemite 10.10.2. Adobe Acrobat Pro DC 2015 Release ver 2015.006.30121.

M

MILMAN

Participant

I have a problem. I have recd a pdf file (as an email attachement)which needs to be digitally signed by me,signing is allowed I have checked that on the security settings, I can click on tools, sign,comment etc. , but when i click on sign it shows three options, the first being I need to sign when i click on this it gets expanded but all the options like add text, add checkmark,place initials and place signature are greyed out.

When i click edit>preferences>signatures>identities and trust certificates (more) I can see my digital signature which i need to place on the pdf file right there.

Please help. It is urgent

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