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Using Digital Signatures in LiveCylce Designer/Acrobat Reader

fursten
Registered: Feb 14 2007
Posts: 14

Hello,
 
I have some questions to make about using digital signatures in LiveCyle Designer.
 
Here are my questions. Thank you for your help.
 
1 - Why is a user always asked to save a copy of the form after digital sign it (acrobat reader)? Well, I understand that this can be a secure measure so that the user can proove at any time how the form was during signing time. However, if we don´t need/want this kind of functionality, can we avoid the "save as" message? (having forms saved at the users disks can be unsecure).
 
2 - My forms have scripts that change the layout of the form depending on who is opening it (for instance, if the user is from the financial department or form any other department).
At the same time, each kind of user needs to digital sign the form.
 
So for instance, a user at the financial department opens a form and see specific text in some text filds or he can even see specific input fields (some can be hidden).
 
After he digital sign the document another user from another department will open the form, but while opening the form, the scripts in the form will change some text in the text fileds and hide (or not) some sections or some input fields.
 
Despite the form is being programtically changed, this user need to see the digital signature from the first user, and the signature needs to be valid. He will then place his own digital signature on the document.
 
I know Adobe as the LiveCycle Designer wokflow for doing this, however my solution can´t be dependent of a specific technology. Plus, I think that while using livecycle workflow, these different views of the forms would be accomplish with rules that would create different files. However, I would like to accomplish this kind of functionalitty using only one file.
 
Is this possible?
 
Thank you

My Product Information:
Reader 8, Windows
tedpadova
ExpertTeam
Registered: Dec 31 2005
Posts: 848
In number 1 you pretty much answered the question for the why. As far as circumventing the Save option, you can't avoid it.

Validating a signature needs to be done before any changes are made on a document. If you want a signature validated, then a user adding more data to the same document will render the first signature invalid.

If validation is something you can avoid, you might be better off using custom stamps in your workflow.

ted

The author of numerous books on Acrobat, Photoshop, Illustrator and the Adobe Creative Suite, and an international speaker on Adobe Acrobat, Ted Padova is a well-known PDF guru.