How to create an electronic signature

Question

So I was emailed this document which I need to approve of with my signature. I do not understand how to do so? How do you sign an email? A colleague told me I could, said it’s something called an electronic signature, then scoff me off for my technological illiteracy. But how to create an electronic signature exactly?

Answer 1

You need better colleagues for one. Anyway, to create an electronic signature, you can go the old fashioned way of printing the document, signing it, scanning it and email it back. But this is the 21st century, so of course we have a faster and better way to do it.

I will teach you how to make one in Microsoft Office. Office supports the most secure way for signature verification, called digital signature. So what is a digital signature? It’s actually closer to a digital certificate, issued by a trusted third-party certificate authority. It forms a public key that lets you validate the information.

To get one, just attempt to sign the Office document, you will be prompted by the “Get a Digital ID” dialog. If you choose to get an ID from a Microsoft partner, you will be directed to the Office website, to the market for purchasing an ID. If the signed document required to have an authentic verification from you for the recipient, do get one of the certificates from a reputable certificate authority.

You can also create your own ID for a faster result. Click the “Create your own digital ID” option in the dialog box (do note that the “Get a Digital ID” prompt only appears when you actually tries to sign a document with no certificate. A design flaw I guess.) Just fill in your Name, E-mail address, the name of your company and your location. Click Create and you are ready to go! But by using this method, the signature can only be authenticated on the computer you created the signature, so do this if you just need an electronic signature.

Comments

thanks for telling me how to create an electronic signature. I'll try it out.

Answer 2

How to create an electronic signature…  Assuming you are just signing it for the sake of courtesy, so the same thing like signing an actual paper document, then there is a few things we can do. You can use Adobe reader. To start, open the PDF document you are required to sign with the Adobe Reader. The programme will prompt you if it detects a signature field to open the Sign pane. You can also access this feature through the Sign button, usually at the top-right hand corner. Then click “Place Signature” to use your real signature. It will then prompt you further for the method.

You can type in your name and the Reader will generate something fancy looking out of it. You can use a webcam to capture your signature on paper. You can have your signature done with the mouse, which is impossibly difficult with just the mouse. You can apply an image of the signature you scanned. You probably want to use the webcam one. Use black ink to sign the paper, hold it upward against the camera and let the Reader do its magic. That’s it, your signature is now electronic.