If you have come this far looking for how to sign a PDF with a digital certificate, it is because The time has come to put your signature on a document which is in this type of format. An action that is increasingly common within legal traffic.
When you already have your digital signature enabled on your device, Doing this type of procedure becomes much easier. But, so that you have no doubts, we are going to explain to you how to do it.
Basic operation of signing with digital certificate in PDF documents
Signing a PDF with a digital certificate means that we add an electronic signature to the document that proves our identity.
In summary, a digital certificate is an electronic file issued by a certifying entity (in the case of Spain, the National Mint and Stamp Factory) and which unquestionably accredits the identity of the owner.
It is something like a digital credential. A way to ensure that, even if you are not in the same physical location as the other party interested in signing the document, The signature that will appear on it is yours.
When we sign a PDF through a digital certificate, lWhat the software does is use the private key of the certificate to generate a unique signature. This signature is an encrypted representation of the document data and the identity of the signatory.
Although all this can be a bit complex, you just need to stick with the idea that your electronic signature in a PDF document It has the same validity as if you sign that document in physical format and in person. The other party has the same security regarding your identity.
Why is it useful to know how to sign a PDF with a digital certificate?
Because this is an action that you will have to carry out sooner or later, since the use of digital signatures to carry out all types of procedures is becoming more and more common, iEven with the Public Administration.
Some of the additional advantages of this system are the following:
Signer authentication
As we have seen before, the digital signature has a high level of security and ensures that whoever signs the document is really who they say they are.
Document integrity
By signing a PDF with a digital certificate, the integrity of the document is accredited. So that Its content can no longer be manipulated or altered once the signature is recorded.
I do not repudiate
It implies that, whoever has signed a document with their digital certificate, he cannot later deny having done so. This is very important when we are talking about signing contracts or other types of binding documents.
Legal compliance
In Spain, the use of the digital signature is supported by a legal framework that recognizes the validity of the electronic signature, including that made through digital certificate. Therefore, it is a way to complete procedures safely and legally.
Process acceleration
You no longer have to print, sign by hand, scan and resend the documents. The digital signature in PDF documents accelerates the contracting processes and saves time and material resources.
How to sign a PDF with a digital certificate step by step
Now that we know how practical it can be, it's time to know what we have to do to digitally sign a PDF.
The first thing to do is to have Acrobat Reader DC downloaded to the computer we are going to use. If you don't have it, you can download it here. Furthermore, it is essential that our digital certificate is also installed on the equipment we are using to carry out the management.
Then We open the document we want to work with in Acrobat and click on “Tools”. When doing so, several icons will be shown to us, including the “Certificates” icon, which is the one that interests us. You can quickly identify it because it has the image of a feather and what looks like an official medal or recognition.
On the next screen we choose the option “Sign digitally.” A pop-up window tells us that we have to choose the area in which we want the signature to appear. We choose and click on “Accept”.
In the next step we select the electronic certificate that we want to use for the signature and click on “Continue”. We click on “Sign” and we can now save the signed document. However, if the certificate is protected with a PIN code, before completing the procedure we will have to indicate this code to verify our identity.
If you have done the whole process well, the document will show the inserted digital signature, with a format similar to this:
Digitally signed by XXX XXX XXX – 0000000000A
Date 2023.01.01
12:35:15 +02’00’
That is, not only will there be a record of signing the document, but also the exact moment in which you did it. This may be especially important going forward. In case you need to prove that you knew or did not know the content of that document at a certain time.
Validate the signature of a digitally signed document with Acrobat Reader DC
If what you want is to validate the signature made, open the document that you have already signed and click on “Signature Panel”, an option that you will see in the upper right part of the screen.
This will give you access to the different signatures that appear in the document. Right-click on the one you want to validate and choose the “Validate signature” option. If everything is correct, the signature will appear marked with a green “v” or a similar symbol.
Hovering the cursor over the signature will tell you that it is valid, the certificate by which it was signed, and that There have been no changes to the document since it was signed. Lastly, you will specify that the document is signed by the current user.
When it comes to how to sign a PDF with a digital certificate, the procedure is very simple, and you have already seen that it is quite intuitive. So We encourage you to lose your fear of this type of digital signatures, because you have already seen that they are very useful, safe, and that they are the future.