Do you have an issue with a specific file(s)? No
Can you reproduce using one of our samples or online demos? Yes
Are you using the WebViewer server? No
Does the issue only happen on certain browsers? N/A
Is your issue related to a front-end framework? N/A
Is your issue related to annotations? Yes
Please give a brief summary of your issue:
Digital signatures don’t show in Preview (Mac)
Please describe your issue and provide steps to reproduce it:
When we create a digitally signed PDF, everything opens up fine in Adobe. Each signature annotation is tracked and the validity of each signature is confirmed.
When we open it in Mac’s Preview, however, no annotations show. Where we’d normally see an inked annotation, we see a plain white box. All annotations are also moveable. It looks like this is somewhat of a known issue.
However, when I look at how DocuSign works, their completed documents don’t have each individual signature. It looks like they flattened everything and added one invisible digital signature to the document. This means opening it in Adobe says it’s valid—and opening it in Preview shows everything because it’s flattened.
I’m guessing their single digital signature is their way of saying “We’re DocuSign: we affirm that all signatures on here are valid, but we’re giving you this version for simplicity.” And in the event that they need to show individual signatures, they can export the original document with all the individual signatures.
Did I understand this right? Are other Apryse customers dealing with this? If so, how are they getting around this?
Please provide a link to a minimal sample where the issue is reproducible:
With WebViewer, we also have the ability to flatten annotations including the signature so that the above scenario will not arise. If that is something that interests you, please take a look at our flatten documentation here: Flatten | Apryse Documentation
I am specifically talking about preserving the digital signature certificates. If I were to flatten it at that point, would I not also break the certification of the document?
I am asking if possible to flatten AND also preserve the certification side of things. I’m under the impression that’s impossible, unless you do what I presume DocuSign is doing behind the scenes.
That is correct. Flattening would initially invalidate the signature since the PDF structure would change so it would require a resign after the fact to preserve any document integrity.
Since Preview appears to only like flattened documents—can you comment on what DocuSign is doing?
However, when I look at how DocuSign works, their completed documents don’t have each individual signature. It looks like they flattened everything and added one invisible digital signature to the document. This means opening it in Adobe says it’s valid—and opening it in Preview shows everything because it’s flattened.
I’m guessing their single digital signature is their way of saying “We’re DocuSign: we affirm that all signatures on here are valid, but we’re giving you this version for simplicity.” And in the event that they need to show individual signatures, they can export the original document with all the individual signatures.
Did I understand this right? Are other Apryse customers dealing with this? If so, how are they getting around this?