Working with documents

Sign and verify

How to add a hand-drawn signature, sign a PDF digitally with a .p12 or .pfx certificate, verify signatures and create a certificate in vivePDF.

vivePDF offers two kinds of signature: a hand-drawn signature that you place on the page as a picture in the Viewer, and a digital signature made with a .p12 or .pfx certificate in Tools › Sign. From the same place you can verify a signed file, create your own certificate and export its public part. Everything runs on this computer; neither the document nor the certificate is sent anywhere.

Hand-drawn signature

A hand-drawn signature goes onto the page as a picture. It is quick for signing a form or a letter, but it does not prove whether the document changed afterwards.

  1. Open the document in the Viewer and click Edit in the toolbar.
  2. From the Page tools menu, choose Place signature.
  3. Draw a signature with New using a mouse, pen or your finger, or take one From photo. If you will use it again, click Save signature; next time you can pick it from Saved signatures.
  4. Click where the signature goes, drag it into place and choose Apply signature.

The result is written to a new file and opened straight away; your original stays as it was. Saved signatures can be removed in Settings › Data.

Digital signature with a certificate

A digital signature shows who signed the document and that it has not changed since. vivePDF applies a PAdES signature.

  1. Open Tools › Sign and choose the PDF to sign.
  2. Under Certificate file (.p12 / .pfx), pick the file from your e-signature provider or one created in vivePDF, and enter the Certificate password.
  3. If the signature should be visible, turn on Visible signature box on the page, then choose the page, the Box text and, if you like, a saved handwritten signature or a logo as the Picture in the signature box.
  4. Fill in Reason, Location and Contact if needed, then click Sign.

If the document already has empty signature fields, choose one under Signature field; the signature then uses that field’s place and size.

Extra options

  • Timestamp server (optional): enter an RFC 3161 server address to add a trusted time to the signature. It needs the internet, and only a digest of the signature is sent to that server.
  • Certifying signature: the first signature of a document can set what may change afterwards (no changes, form filling and signing, or those plus comments).
  • Lock the document after signing: for the last signer; every field is locked and any later change shows up as a violation.

No certificate yet?

The No certificate → create my own link takes you to Create certificate. A certificate made there is self-signed: it proves the document’s integrity, but legal validity needs a qualified e-signature.

Verify signatures

When you open a signed PDF in the Viewer, a message appears at the top, such as “Signed and all signatures are valid.” The Signature panel shows the details of each signature.

For a fuller check, open Verify from the Security list above the page title, choose the PDF and click Verify. For each signature you see:

  • Integrity: whether the document changed after signing and, if so, whether the signature allows that change.
  • Trust: whether the certificate chain ends at a root in your Trusted roots. Self-signed certificates show as not verified, with the reason.

To trust a provider’s signatures, use Add certificate or trust list to add its root certificate (.cer, .crt, .pem or .der) or a trust list (an EU trusted list .xml or the Adobe AATL). Check revocation online is off by default; when on, it asks the issuer whether the certificate has been withdrawn.

Create and export a certificate

On Create certificate in the Security list, enter your Full name, E-mail, Organization and Country, then choose the Validity and the Key. Under Purpose, choose Signing documents, Receiving sealed documents or Both. The certificate password needs at least 8 characters, and the result is saved as a .p12 file.

If someone wants to send you a document sealed so that only you can open it, use Export public certificate. It takes the public half of your .p12 and writes it as a .cer file; your private key never leaves the .p12. Sealing and password protection are covered on the Security page.

vivePDF remembers the path of the .p12 you signed with, never its password. You can make it forget the path in Settings › Data; what is stored is explained on Settings and privacy. Timestamps and the online revocation check are off while Offline mode is on.