Because of digital transformation, organizations more and more use digital signatures instead of handwritten signatures.
Organizations can use authenticated — these licensed by a certificates authority (CA) — or nonauthenticated digital signatures to create legally binding agreements. Nonetheless, customers would possibly must take away or redact signatures to maintain signers’ info non-public or revise errors inside paperwork.
How one can take away digital signatures utilizing Adobe
Adobe software program provides customers a comparatively simple option to take away digital signatures from PDFs. Nonetheless, the method solely works underneath the next situations:
- The individual deleting the signature is the one signer.
- The signer did not lock the file when saving it.
If these situations apply, customers can take the next steps to take away their signatures:
- Open the PDF file in Adobe Acrobat.
- Navigate to the Edit tab.
- Choose the signature with Management-Click on on Home windows or Command-Click on on macOS.
- Choose Delete or Clear Signature from the context menu.
This course of doesn’t invalidate digital certificates — certificates that CAs situation to confirm a digital signature’s integrity — as a result of Acrobat solely locations these certificates into paperwork after customers signal and save them in a noneditable format.
If customers must take away a digital signature after Adobe embedded a digital certificates within the doc, they need to go to the unique, unsigned supply doc and restart the signing course of. Digital certificates show that no one altered a doc after somebody signed it, so if somebody removes a signature afterward, the certificates turns into invalid.
How one can take away digital signatures utilizing Preview on macOS
Preview is a PDF viewer and editor from Apple that comes with macOS. How Preview customers delete a signature in a PDF will depend on how customers signed the doc.
If customers signed a doc in Preview, they will take the next steps:
- Open the PDF file in Preview.
- Open the Markup toolbar, and select the Rectangular Choice field.
Preview customers should choose a signature earlier than they will delete it.
- Click on on the signature. If the person added their signature inside Preview, the signature ought to seem highlighted. Click on the Delete key on the keyboard to take away the signature.
- If customers signed the file outdoors of Preview, they could want to pick Instruments > Redact to redact the signature from the doc.
Preview lets customers redact digital signatures.
Preview doesn’t embrace performance for signature authentication, so if customers take away the signature watermark or redact it, solely the looks of the doc adjustments. Customers can’t invalidate a digital certificates in Preview.
How one can take away digital signatures on a cell gadget
Cellular customers can use a wide range of PDF editors to take away digital signatures. As an illustration, they will open Adobe Reader for Android or iOS and take the next steps:
- Open the PDF in Adobe Reader.
- Faucet on the three dots on the top-right nook, and click on Edit PDF.
Adobe Reader lets customers take away digital signatures on Android and iOS gadgets.
- Faucet on the signature, after which click on Delete.
In Adobe Reader for cell gadgets, faucet on a signature to pick it for deletion.
- Click on Achieved to shut the enhancing course of and save the edited file.
Widespread questions on eradicating digital signatures
As doc enhancing instruments supply other ways to take away digital signatures from PDFs, folks usually ask the next questions.
Can I redact my signature as an alternative of eradicating it?
Sure. In Adobe Acrobat, customers can choose the Redaction software underneath the Safety tab. In Preview on macOS, customers can choose Instruments > Redaction.
Can I convert my PDF to a Phrase doc and take away the signature that means?
Sure, however specialists don’t suggest this observe. Conversion to Phrase would possibly change the formatting of the unique PDF as a result of Phrase doesn’t assist all PDF options.
Does eradicating the digital signature have an effect on the validity of the doc?
Sure. After customers take away a digital signature or change a doc, any authentication artifacts, akin to digital certificates, embedded within the doc grow to be invalid. When customers open the modified doc, they see a notice that somebody altered it after folks signed it. Nonetheless, Preview on macOS doesn’t have digital certificates performance, so this system doesn’t point out that somebody modified a PDF after customers signed it.
The best way customers take away digital signatures from PDFs will depend on the software program and OS they use and the safety degree utilized to the PDFs. If customers’ software program has authentication capabilities and it issues for his or her use circumstances, they could must restart the signing course of and reauthenticate their PDFs after events re-sign them.
