I need help creating a script that automates digital signing of all pages in pdf documents in a specific location

[Guest]

I do not know anything about programming languages or scripting but I need assistance to perform a task if it's not too much to ask. I have Adobe Acrobat pro XI.

Basically I have the coordinates that I want the signature to be placed on each page in a pdf, I believe my customers want it to be a hand written from a file.

I would also need to password protect the file and overwrite it.  I know most people will say it's unnecessary to put a signature on each page but for our purposes it is a requirement.

I don't know where to begin, I basically researched a little and saw that some people are saying it can be done with a little scripting.

I downloaded the Java SDK but it isn't going to help me if I don't know what to do.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[try67]

- You can add a signature field using the addField method.

- You can sign each signature field using the field's signatureSign method.

[Guest]

That's not what I'm asking.

Imagine you have a PDF. It has 100 pages, I don't want to create a form field and sign each one manually.

I need a script that performs the function so that when I open the PDF after the script it is signed in the same place on each page and password protected.

Please help me clarify if I am not being clear.

[try67]

I understood what you wanted to do. You can use the signatureSign method to sign the fields automatically.

You can't apply a security policy using a script, though.

[gkaiseril]

The digital signature applies to the entire PDF. It is not possible to sign each page and keep the signature on each page valid. Please read the documentation on digital certificates. Acrobat's digital certificate  complies with the UCC and many International Standards for digital certificates for business and legal purposes.

[Joel Geraci]

You really, really, REALLY, don't want a digital signature on each page of a long document. Once you digitally sign a PDF the first time, all modifications are appended which means that your file size is going to balloon real fast. Sign the document once and you have 100 pages stored in the PDF, sign it a second time and you have the original signed document plus the newly signed document stored in the same PDF. Sign it a third time and you now have the originally signed document, the next version (which incorporates a copy of the first) and now the third.  

What it sounds like you need is the image of a signature on each page and maybe a final digital signature across the whole document that also prevents modification.

[Guest]

YES Joel that sounds like what I need. I apologize that I was explaining it like that, that was not my intention.

What I MEANT was to have a handwritten signature image appended to each page in a specific spot, sign the document, and then password protect it(You can't apply a security policy using a script, though) Looks like this rules last option out but I guess the most important thing is to put the signature image on the document.

[Joel Geraci]

Depending on how you want to trigger this to happen, you may be able to sign the document and secure it via scripting. How exactly do you want this to run?

[Guest]

Beggars can't be choosers...I was just told another doozy

I envision this scenario:

Client has PDF they want to sign. It has 100 pages, they have a handwritten signature saved as an image. Client opens PDF and runs script which places handwritten sig in desired form fields on each page. Then it digitally signs the document, and prompts for password. Client enters password and the documents saves the changes back to the original file.

Now they're asking me can it be only on certain pages or can it ask what pages to sign....this is too much for me man, what a crap project to give to someone who doesn't even code...ahhhhh

[Joel Geraci]

It might not be as bad as you think. If they can somehow define which pages require the image, then it's pretty easy really. For example, in the paper world, I only need to initial the pages that have hand entered data on the contract... like a lease. So if you only had to add the image to pages that have form fields, you can easily detect those pages.

One thing to be aware of, you will need to know the exact path and filename of the image file of the signature if you want this to be fully automated. If the scenario allows a step where the user selects the image, then you'll have a much easier time because you know someone is there to manually complete certain steps... like saving the file or applying a signature to a predefined field. While pure JavaScript solutions are quite restrictive, interactive Acrobat Actions can be quite... well... interactive but the mundane and repetitive parts are automated via scripts.

[vioreli93073819]

Did you find a solution for this? Do you have a script? I need this also.

If you have maybe help me.

Thank you.

[Guest]

I am requesting help with finding a way to insert an electronic signature onto PDF copies of right of way map sets (multiple PDFs in one set).　 We do not need to sign and seal, this would be for an electronic signature only. We were able to create an electronic signature in Adobe which included using a password to ensure security; however, the signature had to be scaled for each page, placed in the right position & then the file saved after each page was done.　 It took an enormous amount of time for the map sets to be completed and the larger the file was, the longer it took for the process to be accomplished.　 We would need for the signature to be placed electronically into existing PDF’s while maintaining the security of the signature.

This is straight from my customer, it is hard to know exactly what they want.

[Joel Geraci]

I've found that it helps to tell clients to let me worry about the solution implementation and to just tell me what they are trying to accomplish, what the inputs are, and what the characteristics of the outputs need to be. In this specific case, even if they really want what it is that they describe, they'll hate you if you actually gave it to them.

Were I in your position... before taking any money from this customer, I'd try to educate them as to exactly how digital signatures work in PDF and what the benefits and limitations are for JavaScript using Acrobat as the client. Then I'd provide guidance as to what a solution might look like and see if it matched their expectations. I've found that most customers who say they want electronic signatures have very specific ideas about what that is and those ideas bear little resemblance to what the industry or specific software implementations mean.

[Guest]

So, after weeks of trying to get a sit-down discussion I figure out that these needs are required:

-Every page of the document must be digitally signed, this is because from time to time they extract a select amount of pages from the PDF and they need to keep the same integrity. They are aware that the file size grows every time it changes, and do not wish to change this method.

-The signature field must be placed the same location on each page

-The document must be password protected.

I am not sure if this is entirely possible but would like if someone could explain anything that could be automated in this process, and if not please explain why so that I can give a detailed explanation to my customer.

[try67]

If you extract page from a signed document it will invalidate the signature.

[Karl Heinz Kremer]

Not only that, when there is a signature on the pages you are extracting, that signature is removed from the extracted page(s). Because of that, one signature per document is all you need. You may want to go back to the drawing board and redesign this solution based on what is actually possible.

As far as signing via JavaScript goes, you ay want to review this section from the Acrobat SDK: Acrobat DC SDK Documentation

[Joel Geraci]

To echo my colleagues in the previous two responses though a bit more forcefully... signing every page does absolutely nothing to "keep the same integrity" of the individual pages once extracted. Nothing.

[Guest]

Please believe me when I say I am grateful to even get responses...and if it sounds like I don't know what I'm doing, you caught me because I haven't a clue.

I know very little about how a document can be signed, I'm just going by what my customer described to me, it seems he is confused about his own process. I'm workstation support, so I'm not concerned with helping these peoples with their programs, I just make sure it runs correctly.  This was a special case that is causing me to waste time and resource researching something that probably isn't possible.

This is good information and I appreciate the help.

I'm going to clue them in on this discussion and if I can help them I'll try, I'm just not sure what they want is possible.

[Joel Geraci]

All of us don't have a clue on some subject at any given time so don't worry about it.

If the goal of your customer is to maintain the integrity of documents using digital signatures on PDF even when pages in that document have been extracted, there are absolutely ways of going about doing that. Signing every page isn't one of them though. The full document can easily be signed... once... using Acrobat on the desktop using that standard UI but you may want to think about using an Action or a Custom Command to extract a page or range of pages and sign the new document automatically.

[Test Screen Name]

Just a note about the purpose of digital signatures and how they work. First, paper signatures (ink). They have particular weaknesses: easy to fake, easy to add extra pages or changed pages. Digital signatures are designed to overcome this. To do this, the secret part of the signature, and the public part of the signature are combined with a magic snapshot of the whole PDF. This makes a long set of numbers. 

The Magic snapshot is the key here. An app can make a new magic snapshot of the PDF. If anything has changed, the signature is now invalid. So there is no way to add a page. No way to edit text. No way to delete pages.  No way to extract pages (which is just deleting the ones you don't want).

So if your final deliverable must be separate signed docs, that's what you need to make from the start.

[Joel Geraci]

@Test... That's a perfect explanation but I a slight quibble with that last part.

If you had a trusted, secure server, maybe even one with an HSM, you could upload a signed file and make a request to extract a page range and have the server validate the signed file, do the extraction, and sign the results. That'd be fairly mundane task with the right library.