What do we need signature for? What idea does a signature in a document emanates? Well, a signature is nothing but a way of authenticating any document. Whenever we need to substantiate any document, papers, file etc. A mere signature at the bottom does it all. But we live in a world of internet where all the documents that are shared are made and exchanged online.
All the personal, legal, official, and even confidential information now-a -days are communicated online. All this sudden hike in online documentation and sharing calls for a method of authenticating an online document. What is a digital signature? A Digital signature is a way to warrant any online data or document. In other words it is used to authenticate digital information — such as documents, e-mail messages, and macros — by using computer cryptography. Moreover, a digital signature in a document helps us affirm that the document is not meddled or tampered with after it is signed by the legitimate authority by converting the file into a ‘ Read Only’ format immediately after signing.
Authenticity of a document – A Digital Certificate A Digital Certificate is, in a way, an ‘ identity proof’ of the digital signature. There are two methods of getting a certificate. Getting it from a certificate authority or Microsoft partner – If you plan to exchange digitally-signed documents together with other people, and you want the recipients of your documents to be able to verify the authenticity of your digital signature, you can buy a digital certificate from a reputable third-party certificate authority (CA) or from Office Marketplace. Create your own certificate – If you do not want to purchase digital certificate from a Certificate Authority, you can create your own digital certificate. NOTE – In this case if you share your digitally signed document with other people, they cannot verify the authenticity of the document without manually trusting the source.
How To Create A Digital Signature In Word 2008 For Mac
How can digital signatures be used in Office documents? There are in total two different ways to verify office documents with the help of digital signatures. You can either –. Add visible digital signature to a document.
Add an invisible digital signature to a document. Both these methods are illustrated below. Add visible signature to a document – After the editing part of your document has ended, the final step that remains to make your document authentic is adding a digital signature to it. Given are the few steps to add digital signature to your word document –. Place your pointer to the location where you want to insert your signature.
Now click on the ‘ Insert’ tab and then in the options that appear, click on ‘ Signature line’ or ‘Microsoft office signature line’ (top right corner). If you are doing this for the first time, a small window might hop up at the center of your screen, like this one – Click OK. Then another window might show up looking like – Here you can either get a certificate from a Microsoft partner or you may create your own digital ID. I would suggest, for the time being, you should go with the second option and click OK and then fill your relevant details. Once you are done filling, click Create and your digital ID is made. Now a signature setup box appears on your screen demanding some information.
Suggested signer: Signer’s full name. Suggested signer’s title: Signer’s title(optional). Suggested signer’s e-mail address: Signer’s e-mail address (optional). Instructions to the signer: Add instructions for the signer (if needed). Fill this data and select one or the both checkboxes (optional) given below and click OK.
Now a box appears on your document looking like this – Double click on this box (or right click and select Sign from menu). Now to add printed version of your signature, type your name in the box next to X. Or you can also upload an image/logo by clicking on ‘ Select Image’ option and selecting the image you like.
Now click the ‘ Sign’ button. A message will now pop up on your screen like this one here. Click OK and you are done.
Your visible signature is now uploaded in your document making it a ‘read only’ file. You may remove or look into this signature by right clicking on the signature block and selecting ‘Remove signature’ or ‘signature setup’ respectively. Add invisible signature to a document – If you do not need to insert visible signature lines into a document, but you still want to provide assurance as to the authenticity, integrity, and origin of a document, you can add an invisible digital signature to it. For this, after your document is complete, go to ‘ File’ (top left corner). In the drop down menu go to ‘ Info’ and then click on ‘ Protect Document’. Again a drop down menu will appear.
In this menu, click on ‘ Add a Digital Signature’ button. A small window will now pop up on your screen like the image shown. In this window, fill the relevant details (optional) and then click on ‘Sign’. Again a dialog box will appear as illustrated in point 5 above. And you are done!
Your document is added with an invisible signature and converted into un-editable file. An image at the bottom bar tells that the document is protected. It looks like – This is how you can easily authenticate your Word documents by adding visible or invisible Digital Signatures to it.
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You can use your DigiCert® Document Signing Certificate to add a visible digital signature inside a Word document or Excel workbook. Your signature appears within the document to let recipients know that the document was signed. For more information about DigiCert® Document Signing Certificates, see.
You can also use your DigiCert® Document Signing Certificate to add an invisible digital signature to a Word document, Excel workbook, and PowerPoint presentation. How to Create a Signature inside a Microsoft Word Document or Excel Workbook. Microsoft Office 2013 The screenshots provided in this instruction are from Microsoft word and are almost identical to the screens in Excel. Plug in your Document Signing Certificate token. In Microsoft Word or Excel, open the document that you want to sign. In the word document or worksheet, place you cursor (pointer) where you want the signature line to appear.
Click Insert. On the Insert tab, in the Text section, click Signature Line Microsoft Office Signature Line. In the Signature Setup window, enter the information that you want to appear below the signature line: Suggested signer Enter the signer’s full name.
Suggested signer’s title Enter the signer’s job title. Suggested signer’s email address Enter the signer’s email address. Instruction to the signer Add any necessary instructions for the signer. Allow the singer to add comments in the sign dialog Check this box to permit the signer to type a purpose for signing. Show sign date in signature line Check this box if you want the signature date to appear with the signature. When you are finish entering your information, click OK.
The signature field should appear in the word document or worksheet. Note: You can drag-and-drop the signature field to position it where you want on the page or in the worksheet. To insert your signature, right-click on the signature line and then, in the drop-down list, click Sign. In the Sign window, in the X box, type your name and/or click Select Image to choose a signature image. In the Commitment Type drop-down list, select the commitment type that best represents the signer’s role. None.
Created and approved this document. Approved this document. Created this document. In the Purpose for signing this document box, enter your purpose for signing the document. To add information about the signer, click Details. Then, in the Additional Signing Information window, enter the information and then, click OK. Next, in the Sign window, click Change.
In the Windows Security window, select the certificate that you want to use to sign the document and then, click OK. In the Sign window, click Sign. If you are using a DigiCert® Document Signing Certificate, enter your token password, and then click OK. In the Signature Confirmation window, read the message and then, click OK.
Note: If you checked Don’t show this message again, this window does not appear. The signature should be inserted in your document.
To verify the signature, right-click on the signature line and then, click Signature Details. Microsoft Office 2010 The screenshots provided in this instruction are from Microsoft word and are almost identical to the screens in Excel. Plug in your Document Signing Certificate token. In Microsoft Word or Excel, open the document that you want to sign. In the word document or worksheet, place you cursor (pointer) where you want the signature line to appear. Click Insert.
On the Insert tab, in the Text section, click Signature Line Microsoft Office Signature Line. If the Microsoft Office digital signatures window appears, click OK. In the Signature Setup window, enter the information that you want to appear below the signature line: Suggested signer Enter the signer’s full name.
Suggested signer’s title Enter the signer’s job title. Suggested signer’s email address Enter the signer’s email address. Instruction to the signer Add any necessary instructions for the signer. Allow the singer to add comments in the sign dialog Check this box to permit the signer to type a purpose for signing. Show sign date in signature line Check this box if you want the signature date to appear with the signature. When you are finish entering your information, click OK. The signature field should appear in the word document or worksheet.
Note: You can drag-and-drop the signature field to position it where you want on the page or in the worksheet. To insert your signature, right-click on the signature line and then, in the drop-down list, click Sign. If the Microsoft Office digital signatures window appears, click OK. In the Sign window, in the X box, type your name and/or click Select Image to choose a signature image.
In the Purpose for signing this document box, enter your purpose for signing the document. Next, in the Sign window, click Change. In the Windows Security window, select the certificate that you want to use to sign the document and then, click OK. In the Sign window, click Sign. If you are using a DigiCert® Document Signing Certificate, enter your token password, and then click OK. In the Signature Confirmation window, read the message and then, click OK. Note: If you checked Don’t show this message again, this window does not appear.
The signature should be inserted in your document. To verify the signature, right-click on the signature line and then, click Signature Details. Microsoft Office 2007 The screenshots provided in this instruction are from Microsoft word and are almost identical to the screens in Excel. Plug in your Document Signing Certificate token.
In Microsoft Word or Excel, open the document that you want to sign. In the word document or worksheet, place you cursor (pointer) where you want the signature line to appear.
Click Insert. On the Insert tab, in the Text section, click Signature Line Microsoft Office Signature Line. If the Microsoft Office digital signatures window appears, click OK. In the Signature Setup window, enter the information that you want to appear below the signature line: Suggested signer Enter the signer’s full name.
Suggested signer’s title Enter the signer’s job title. Suggested signer’s email address Enter the signer’s email address. Instruction to the signer Add any necessary instructions for the signer. Allow the singer to add comments in the sign dialog Check this box to permit the signer to type a purpose for signing. Show sign date in signature line Check this box if you want the signature date to appear with the signature. When you are finish entering your information, click OK. The signature field should appear in the word document or worksheet.
Note: You can drag-and-drop the signature field to position it where you want on the page or in the worksheet. To insert your signature, right-click on the signature line and then, in the drop-down list, click Sign. If the Microsoft Office digital signatures window appears, click OK. In the Sign window, in the X box, type your name and/or click Select Image to choose a signature image.
In the Purpose for signing this document box, enter your purpose for signing the document. Next, in the Sign window, click Change. In the Windows Security window, select the certificate that you want to use to sign the document and then, click OK. In the Sign window, click Sign. If you are using a DigiCert® Document Signing Certificate, enter your token password, and then click OK.
In the Signature Confirmation window, read the message and then, click OK. Note: If you checked Don’t show this message again, this window does not appear. The signature should be inserted in your document. To verify the signature, right-click on the signature line and then, click Signature Details.