SIGNATURE CERTIFICATE
Today, all aspects of businesses and organizations are benefiting from the use of electronic signatures. Because of this, companies can now conveniently complete business transactions online such as approvals, agreements, and more.
An electronic signature is an electronic verification that confirms the authenticity of documents. Similar to handwritten document signatures, e-signatures have the same level of legality and validity in most countries.
PlatoForms and e-signature certificate
Forms built by PlatoForms can add a signature pad to accept user signatures, however, by default it does not include a Signature Certificate that can confirm whether the signer’s sign was modified or not.
To create one, you need to turn the Collected to signature certificate option in the form builder. Reference below:
The form must be sent by our invitation function, which has the Signature Certificate option enabled.
If the form is submitted with the Signature Certificate enabled, the submitted form will include a PlatoForms-issued Signature Certificate in a PDF format, alongside the submitted PDF. The signature certificate includes a timestamp, signer’s IP address, and email address to properly address the information of the signer. Additionally, it. has the SHA256 checksum of the submitted PDF document to ensure the integrity of the file. Since the certificate includes a SHA246 checksum that is stored in PlatoForms, you can confirm that the certificate and the document itself were not altered, faked, or changed.
Since this feature was released, the system default email will include two things:
- The Signature Certificate
- The Signature Certificate SHA256 checksum
For your existing forms before this, you need to change the notification to add these two variables:
{{attach_sign_cert_pdf}}This variable is used to indicate that a Signature Certificate will be attached to the email.{{sign_cert_checksum}}Once the Signature Certificate has been created, the SHA256 checksum will be inserted here.
Aside from the Signature Certificate attached to the email, you can always view and download it from our submission page. Reference below:
FAQ
If I sign a document first and send it to my client, will the signature certificate include two signature verifications?
Yes. First, the form can have as many signature pads as you want as long as the Collect Signature Certificates option is enabled. If you need to fill in a signature before the form is sent to your client, you can use the pre-fill function to put your signature in first (make sure this field is in read-only to avoid unexpected changes by your client). After your client submits the invitation, the Signature Certificate will be included your and your client’s signatures as well as the identifying information of each signatory.
What if I edit the submission and submit it again?
The Signature Certificate is only available the first time you submit the form. If you amend the submission, no signature certificate will be generated. However, you can still view and download the first version of Signature Certificate in PDF format from our submission page.
Can I use the PlatoForms Invitation API to create a signature certificate?
Not yet. This is because our invitation API only returns the URL of the invitation link. It does not send emails, so we cannot verify the email address of the signer yet. We are currently working on this feature and will have an updated version of the API soon.
Can I get a signed certificate through a PlatoForms workflow or workflow invitation?
Not yet, we are still currently working on this feature. To let us know which case you will be using this feature for, please contact us!
Why the signature certificate of the PDF indicates “There is no valid signature found in this submission.”?
You need to check whether the option Collected to signature certificate is enabled or not in your signature pad.