Signing with certificates and qualified signatures in Signi

If the document initiator in Signi has required signers to sign with a certificate, they can use it to sign the document sent through Signi. Certificates of various levels are issued by different providers, see Qualified signatures and certificate-based signatures.

If you want to sign a document sent to you for signature through Signi using your certificate:

1. First prepare everything you need on your computer.

2. You receive the document to sign through Signi and initiate signing the document via the Signi application for certificate signing, or you can sign using any other application, e.g. Adobe Reader.

3. Signi then handles the further processing of the document - it sends it for signature or approval to another party, or, if you are the last signer, Signi delivers a notification of document completion to all parties along with the option to download their original electronically signed document.

Before you sign with a certificate

In order to sign with a certificate on your computer, you need to prepare the following.

1. If you don't have certificates stored directly on your computer, you must have a so-called qualified device - an ID card, card or token connected to your computer, where the certificate is stored. For lower signing levels you can also have the relevant certificate uploaded in your computer's certificate store. Typically it was uploaded there during the certificate acquisition process.

2. For certificates stored on a qualified device - ID card, card or token - you need to have installed an application for communication between the qualified device and your computer. You received the installation instructions from the certification authority that issued it to you. Sometimes you must also register the individual certificates in this application for use on your computer.

3. For the actual signing of PDF documents with a certificate you need to have an application for signing with certificates installed on your computer. This can be the Signi application for certificate signing, or alternatively any other, e.g. Adobe Reader.

Signing a document with a certificate

Choosing the signing application

If during document preparation the initiator required the parties to sign with a certificate, after the signer clicks Sign on the document, a window will appear to select the signing application.

• If you choose Sign in Signi, you sign the document in the Signi application for certificate signing, which you can install following these instructions.

• If you choose Sign outside Signi, you download the file to sign to your computer, sign it there, e.g. in Adobe Reader, and then upload it back with your signature to the signing page in the web browser that opened from the email or SMS with the signing request.

Signing in the Signi application

If you choose Signi as the signing application and it's the first time, you need to allow the application to launch in your web browser. After allowing it, the Signi application is ready to sign the document.

Consent to launch the Signi application from the web browser.

In the Signi application for certificate signing, the document to sign is first shown, then you can select a suitable certificate and sign the document with it.

Selecting a certificate for signing in the Signi application for certificate signing.

After pressing "Send to Signi", the document is sent for further processing, i.e. either to the next signers for signature, or, if you are the last signer, Signi delivers a notification of document completion to all signers along with the option to download their original electronically signed document.

Signing in Adobe Acrobat or other programs

If the Signi application is not available on your computer and you cannot install it, you can use another program for certificate signing, for example Adobe Reader.

1. In the application selection window, under the Sign outside Signi section, download the document to sign to your computer.

2. Then open it, e.g. in Adobe Acrobat, where under the certificates tab you again find the required certificate in the list and insert it into the document.

3. Then upload the signed document back to Signi and click Send.

4. This sends the document for further processing, i.e. either to the next signers for signature, or, if you are the last signer, Signi delivers a notification of document completion to all signers along with the option to download their original electronically signed document.

What does the resulting document signed with a certificate look like?

The resulting signature in the document will look as follows.

If you open the resulting PDF document, for example in Adobe Reader, when the so-called Signature Panel is displayed, you will see further details about the inserted certificates.

For a document signed through Signi you will typically see 3 certificates:

1. the initiator's signature,

2. the counterparty's signature,

3. a so-called electronic seal, which is not a legal act, nor an expression of anyone's will, but only information about the document's authorship. By default the seal of Digital factory s.r.o. as the author of the document is inserted, and the initiator's seal can optionally be inserted as well. You can find more on the topic of electronic seals here.

Three certificates in a document signed through Signi. Two are the signatures of the initiator and the counterparty, the third belongs to the electronic seal.