Digital Signatures (Pro Edition)

With the Professional Edition license, you can digitally sign a report when exporting it to PDF format. The digital signature identifies by whom, when and for what reason the document was created, and sets the certification level that dictates how the document may be accessed and modified by other users. A digital signature serves as means of protecting the document from any unauthorized access, use or modification.

In order to use digital signatures, you must first have a valid PKCS#12 certificate (*.pfx) file. You can use a third-party digital ID, or create a self-signed certificate.

For information on creating a self-signed certificate, see the Adobe Acrobat Help topic "Create a self-signed digital ID."

You can also create a PFX file from the Visual Studio command line. For more information and links to SDK downloads, see http://www.source-code.biz/snippets/vbasic/3.htm.

A digital signature may be invisible or visible, the latter containing text or graphics elements. It is displayed under the Signatures tab on the left side of the PDF document window.

Note: You cannot digitally sign a report if it is exported into a password-protected pdf document.

To learn more about PDF digital signatures, please refer to www.adobe.com/support/documentation.

Table of Property Descriptions

Property Name	Description
export.Signature.Certificate	Sets the certificate for the digital signature.
export.Signature.VisibilityType	Sets the signature type: visible or invisible. E.g., the value for a visible signature, containing text and graphics will be = VisibilityType.ImageText. If the property is not set or set to "Invisible" expressly, the signature will be invisible regardless of any other setting.
export.Signature.SignDate	Specifies the time of signing the document (e.g. = DateTime.Now).
export.Signature.Contact	Specifies the signature contact information.
export.Signature.Reason	Specifies the signature reason information.
export.Signature.Location	Specifies the signature location information.
export.Signature.TimeStamp	Specifies the settings for the signature time stamp: the Time Stamp Server address, its login and password information ( e.g. = New TimeStamp("http://free-tsu.e-timing.ne.jp/TSS/HttpTspServer", "null", "null")).
export.Signature.Stamp.Bounds	Sets the bounds for the signature display (e.g. = new RectangleF(1, 1, 4, 2)).The unit of measure is inches. The upper-left corner is a start point of the signature rectangle.
export.Signature.Stamp.Image	Specifies the image settings in case the signature contains graphics (e.g. = Image.FromFile("image.png")).
export.Signature.Stamp.TextRectangle or export.Signature.Stamp.ImageRectangle	Specify the area where an image or text will be placed inside the signature rectangle (e.g. = New RectangleF(0, 0.135, 3, 1)). The property uses the upper-left corner as a start point and is specified in coordinates, relative to the signature rectangle. If this property is not specified, the entire signature rectangle will be used for placing an image or text.
export.Signature.Stamp.TextAlignment	Specifies whether the text in the signature is left-aligned, right-aligned, or centered. (e.g. = Alignment.Left).The alignment is performed inside the text rectangle that is included into the signature rectangle.
export.Signature.Stamp.ImageAlignment	Specifies the alignment of an image inside the image rectangle that is included into the signature rectangle.(e.g. = Alignment.Right).
export.Signature.Stamp.Font	Specifies the signature stamp font (e.g. = new Font("Arial", 10, FontStyle.Italic)).
export.Signature.Stamp.TextColor	Specifies the stamp text color ( e.g. = Color.AliceBlue).
export.Signature.CertificationLevel	Sets the level of other users’ access to the document (e.g. = CertificationLevel.FormFilling).

Note: Be careful when changing fonts of exports using localization. If a selected font does not support the language, then the localized labels are not shown in the signature.

How To

Create a Digital Signature for a PDF Export