How to Sign PDFs Without Printing in Acrobat Pro

Digital signatures allow you to sign PDFs without printing them.

PDFs have long been used as a way to send documents without allowing modification. Frequently, these documents had to be printed, which created costs for the user, and the environment, in the form of paper and ink. It is possible to sign PDF documents without printing them using Adobe Acrobat Pro. Adobe Acrobat Pro uses secure, digital IDs, that you create, to digitally sign documents instead of printing and signing them.

Instructions

1. Double-click your PDF to open it in Adobe Acrobat Pro.

2. Click "Tools" in the top menu. Select "Sign and Certify," and click "Sign Document."

3. Click "OK" when prompted to. Click your mouse, and drag your cursor to create the signature field. Drag your cursor where you want your signature to appear.

4. Select "New ID..." from the "Sign As" drop-down menu in the "Sign Document" dialog box.

5. Select "A new digital ID that I want to create now," and click "Next."

6. Select "New PKCS#12 digital ID file," and click "Next."

7. Enter a name, organization unit, organization name and email address. Select your country, set your key algorithm to 2048-bit RSA, and select "Digital Signatures and Data Encryption" in the "Use digital ID for:" drop-down menu. Click "Next."

8. Click "Browse" to select a location on your computer to store your digital signature. Enter a password and confirm the password. Click "Finish."

9. Enter your password in the "Sign Document" dialog box. Click "Sign" to sign the PDF with your newly created digital ID. Select a location on your computer to save the signed copy of your PDF, and click "Save" to complete the signing process.

Tips & Warnings

• You can also sign PDFs with a digital ID using Adobe Acrobat Reader.

References

• Adobe: Digital Signatures
• Adobe Acrobat Pro: Create a new digital ID
• Adobe Acrobat Pro: Signing PDFs