Re: electronic signature in Microsoft Word

It's relatively easy.

- First, you need a digital certificate. For real security, you need one
issued by a Root Certificate Authority or a certificate server that can be
traced back to a root authority. Unless your company has such a server, this
is going to cost real money, about $200 per year.

However, you can create an "untrusted" certificate by running the program
SelfCert.exe, which you'll find in the same folder with the WinWord.exe
program (the location depends on what version of Office you have). This
isn't a legally traceable certificate, but it may suffice for your purposes.
You'll need to do this once a year as each certificate expires.

- The document must already have been saved at least once, so there's a
named file on disk.

- Go to Tools > Options > Security and click the Digital Signatures button.

- In the Digital Signature dialog, click the Add button. Select the
certificate to use. Click the OK buttons in all dialogs. Then save the
document again.

The document name in the title bar will say "Signed" or, if you used a
SelfCert, "Signed, unverified". There's also an icon of a red ribbon in the
status bar with a tooltip that says "This document has been digitally
signed." Double-clicking the icon opens the Digital Signature dialog again.

If you or anyone else alters the document in any way in Word and then save
it, the signature will be removed. You can re-sign it with the same
certificate if you want.

The behavior if the document is altered outside of Word is a little less
obvious. The title bar is unchanged. If you double-click the status bar icon
now, it displays the message "This document has been digitally signed but
has been modified since it was signed. The digital signatures in this
document will be removed if you click OK in the Digital Signature dialog."
Then it opens the dialog with an empty certificate list.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

ChrisK wrote:
Thank you for your reply. What about digital
signatures/certificates? Would it show that the document has not
been altered since I 'signed' it? Is this easy to do with MS Word?

ChrisK

"Graham Mayor" wrote:

What you ask is impossible for the reason you have already
highlighted. Obtaining a signature graphic and inserting it in a
document is a simple matter for anyone who can use a scanner and who
knows how to insert a graphic in a document, which should cover most
Word users. The sort of control that you envisage just adds
unnecessary complication for no useful purpose.

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>.

ChrisK wrote:
Is there a way to use passworded electronic signatures in word
documents? By electronic signature, I mean a graphic of a signature
inserted into a word document. By passworded, I mean that graphic
could only be inserted by a specific person who has the password to
use that signature.

I realize once the document leaves my control the signature can be
copied and used by someone else just like a written signature could
be scanned and used. What I am trying to do is to be able to sign a
document, such as a report typed by someone else that I need to
review and sign, that is on the computer screen. I want to be able
to insert my signature, but be asked for a password before inserting
it. I don't want people to insert my signature graphic unless they
have the password.

I hope my question is not very confusing.

Thank you.

ChrisK.


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