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Digitally Signing Documents

This page will outline the steps necessary to setup the ability to digitally sign documents that require a signature using Acrobat Reader or Pro.  This process serves as an official and legally binding signature which can be used when you are unable to physically sign a document.  If you do not have Acrobat Pro and need assistance digitally signing a document, please send an email to ois@vt.edu detailing what you need and OIS will attempt to assist you further.

To Request an InCommon Personal Digital Certificates (PDC) – Only done once every 18 months

  • Navigate to the Certificate Manager https://certs.it.vt.edu (log in with PID and PID PW)
  • Click on InCommon Personal Digital Certificates.
  • If you see a message about you can only have one active keypair at a time, you will need to revoke the existing keypair, before you can request a new keypair, see “To revoke a PDC” below.
  • Agree to the Terms of Use Agreement and click on Request PDC.
  • The certificate should be issued shortly. You will need to refresh your page until the status flips to FULFILLED. You may then download your PDC by clicking Action -> PKCS#12 Keypair. A password will be generated for your downloaded PDC. As the PDC downloads, the web page will update and display the password. Write it down or highlight and copy/paste it into a document so you can reference it. If you forget your password, you may download the PDC again and a new password will be generated.
     

Once you have the PDC — Only done once every 18 months

(for Windows computers only)

  • Double click it
  • Make sure the radio button is set to Current User and click the Next button
  • Click the Next button
  • Paste or type in the password from when you created the PDC and click the Next button
  • Click the Next button
  • Click the Finish button
     

(alternative for adding a digital certificate)

  • Open a PDF in Adobe Acrobat (any version will work)
  • Click Tools and find/click “Certificates” (can type certificates in the search to find it quickly)
  • Click “Digitally Sign”
  • Drag a box somewhere random as if you were going to sign there
  • Click "Configure New Digital ID"
  • Select “Use a Digital ID from a file” and click Continue
  • Browse to where you saved the Personal Digital Certificate you created in the previous section and select it
  • Paste in the password for your certificate (also from the previous section) and click Continue
  • Click Continue

The certificate should now be added

Using the PDC to sign a PDF document  – Done each time you want to sign

  • Open a PDF in Adobe Acrobat (any version will work)
  • Click Tools and find/click “Certificates” (can type certificates in the search to find it quickly)
  • Click “Digitally Sign”
  • Drag a box where you wish to place your digital signature
  • Your Digital ID created by the Certificate should already be selected so click "Continue"
  • If you are the last person needing to sign the document, check the box "Lock document after signing"
  • Click "Sign"
  • Save the new document