How to Create a Digital Signature for PDF
For Adobe Acrobat DC
This is the Graduate School-approved technique for digitally signing any of the official documents that exist as fillable PDFs or in another format and are then printed to PDF. Before you can begin this procedure, you must first get a digital picture (such as a scan) of your signature. Once that's done, open the PDF on which you wish to digitally sign and follow the instructions below.
1
Select the "Certificates" option from the "Tools" menu.The top of your screen will alter to display a Certificates menu bar.
2
Select "Digitally Sign" from the options. A dialog window will open. Then, at the bottom, click OK. According to the directions, use your mouse to create the area in the PDF where you want your signature to appear.
NOTE: In this example, we are utilizing the "Request to Schedule Doctoral Oral Examination" form, which requires a signature from the Director of Graduate Programs (DGP), but this may be used to any other form that has been printed to PDF.
3
"A new digital ID I want to create now" is the option to select in the "Add Digital ID" dialog box. Next, select "Next" from the box's bottom menu.
4
Click "Next" at the bottom after accepting the dialog box's default selection.
5
In the following step, enter your identity information by simply entering your name, department name (in the "Organizational Unit" area), and official NC State email address. Click "Next."
6
For the digital ID file you are generating, enter a password. In the future, you will require this password in order to sign subsequent PDF forms using this digital ID. If you need to utilize this file to digitally sign another PDF from a different machine, you should additionally record where Adobe stores it. Press the "Finish" icon.
For this example, a weak password was selected; you might want to think about choosing a password that is challenging for someone else to figure out but easy enough for you to remember for future usage. Adobe requires a minimum of six characters.
7
Change the default "Appearance" option from "Standard Text" to "Create New Appearance" in the following dialog box. This will open the "Configure Signature Appearance" dialog box.
8. Make sure the Name, Date, Logo, and Labels boxes are checked off (they should be checked by default). Next, choose the "Imported graphic" radio box and click the "File" button to locate the graphic image file you previously created for your signature. This will open the "Select Picture" dialog box.
9
Find the file containing your electronic signature in the "Select Picture" dialog box by clicking the Browse button (see this document's first paragraph), then click the OK button. This returns you to the dialogue box labeled "Configure Signature Appearance." To return to the "Sign Document" dialog box, click the "OK" button.
10
Your digital ID is now ready for usage and should resemble the sample on the right. If you haven't made any changes to the document since signing, you might want to think about checking the "Lock Document After Signing" checkbox (see image on the right). To add your digital signature to the PDF, click the "Sign" button after entering your password (the one you already entered) at the window. Your document's bottom should resemble the "Request to Schedule Doctoral Oral Examination" form shown below.
NOTE: You may use your digital signature for any PDF you want to digitally sign after you've finished setting it up in Adobe. To select your digital ID, just click Tools > Certificates > Digitally Sign and then follow the instructions. The "Sign Document" dialog box will appear on the right; all you have to do is input the password and press the "Sign" button.
