Distiller v8 and Digital Certificates

Hi photojoe,

Distiller doesn't have the capability to add a digital signature as part of the PDF creation process. In order to sign the file you would have to open the PDF in Acrobat. You could somewhat automate this using a Batch process that executes a JavaScript to apply the signature, but the bottom line is you need to get into Acrobat in order to sign.

Steve

Thanks Steve,

I am a little disappointed in that the product sheets make mention of encryption and security but never states what it CANNOT do ... an expensive product purchased and not what we needed ...

We are generating documents (certificates) and want to make these as secure as possible, i.e. not allow tampering or false creation. Do I need to sign these or is it sufficient to just "encrypt"?

Thanks again for your answer.

photojoe

Hi photojoe,

Distiller will password encrypt a PDF file, using either the RC4 40-bit or 128-bit format, or the newer AES 128-bit format, but not the latest AES 256-bit format that Acrobat 9 supports. You can pretty well lock the document down using Password Security, but there is one caveat. Once the document is opened, there is nothing that requires third party PDF viewing software to enforce the rules. However, if you use a secure (i.e. at least eight characters using mixed case along with numbers and/or symbols) Document Open Password, nobody can get the document open unless they know the password, even if they are using a third party PDF viewer.

Steve

Note also that another LiveCycle component, LiveCycle Digital Signatures, is specifically designed for batch signing operations like you are referring to. See:

http://www.adobe.com/products/livecycle/digitalsignatures/

-John Harris, Adobe