Adding a visible or invisible signature to a PDF document

When signing a document, you can sign it invisibly so that no signature form field appears in the PDF document, or you can sign it so that all your signature information appears (as designated in the Configure Signature Appearance dialog box), including any graphic that you’ve selected.
To sign a document, take these steps:

1. Open your Digital ID file by choosing Advanced➪Manage Digital IDs➪My Digital ID Files➪Select My Digital ID File.The Select My Digital ID File dialog box opens.
2. Select the filename of your user Digital ID in the Digital ID File dropdown list, enter your password in User Password text box, and click the OK button.
3. Choose Document➪Digital Signatures➪Sign this Document or, if the Sign Task button is open on the Tasks toolbar, click it and choose Sign This Document on the pop-up menu. If the Alert - Document Is Not Certified dialog box appears, you are given the opportunity to add a Certifying Signature to the document, which will be invalidated if unauthorized changes are made. To specify this added security feature, click the Certify Document button and follow the prompts; otherwise, click the Continue Signing button to open the Sign Document dialog box.
4. Select the Create a New Invisible Signature radio button, and then click Next to open the Apply Signature to Document dialog box. Alternatively, if you wish to sign the PDF document with a visible signature, select the Create a New Signature Field to Sign radio button, click Next, and then draw a signature field in the PDF document by dragging the mouse in the area you want to sign.
5. If you want to add the reason for signing the document, your location, or contact information to the signature information (that can be viewed in the Signatures palette), click the Show Options button to expand the Apply Signature to Document dialog box.
6. To include the reason for signing the document as part of the signature information, select the reason from the Reason for Signing Document drop-down list (such as I Am Approving This Document or I Am the Author of This Document). Note that you can edit the reason you select by clicking the insertion point in the text and then inserting or deleting text as needed.
7. If you wish to save your location as part of the digital signature information, click in the Location text box and enter your current location (as in Chicago or Corporate Headquarters).
8. If you wish to include contact information, such as your telephone number, so that coworkers can contact you if they need your certificate in order to verify your digital signature, click in the Your Contact Information text box and enter that information there.
9. If you’re using a visible signature, by default, Acrobat selects Standard Text as the Signature Appearance. To preview how this signature field will appear in the document, click the Preview button. If you wish to select a new appearance for your signature field, select its name in the Signature Appearance drop-down list. To create a new signature appearance, click the New button. To edit the appearance you selected in the drop-down list, click the Edit button, which replaces the Preview button when you select an appearance you created.
   
10. Click the Sign and Save button to save your changes and signature in the document in its current location with the same filename. Alternatively, click the Sign and Save As button to open the Save As dialog box, where you can modify the file’s location and/or save it under a new filename. After you click the Sign and Save button in the Apply Signature to Document dialog box (to save the file with the same name) or the Save button in the Save As dialog box (to save the file in a new location or with a new filename), Acrobat saves the PDF document with your signature and then displays a Certificate Security - Alert dialog box, informing you that you have successfully signed the document.

After you click OK to close this dialog box, you can verify that you’ve signed the document (if you used an invisible signature) by opening the Signatures palette by clicking the Signatures tab on the Navigation pane (if the palette isn’t already displayed in the Navigation pane). To display the detailed information you added to your signature (including the reason, location, and contact information), click the Expand button (the plus sign on Windows and the triangle pointing right on the Mac) to expand the signature information. If you used a visible signature to sign the document, after you click OK to close the alert dialog box, you can see your signature right on the document page. Note that the Signatures palette shown in this figure displays a list of the detailed signature information that also appears (much smaller) in the signature field to the right of the facsimile of my handwritten signature. You can always review the signatory information for a particular signature in its Signature Properties dialog box. You can open this dialog box for a visible signature by right-clicking (Control+clicking on the Mac) the signature field and then clicking Properties on the context menu. You can also open this dialog box (for an invisible or visible signature) by selecting the signatory’s name in the Signatures palette and then selecting Properties at the bottom of the Options pop-up menu.