Home Forums Discussions General Discussion PDF Signatures

Just working on some projects, and I was wondering how many people out there use a stamped signature in their PDF programs?

I do with Paperport.

Leslie

Do you have a transparent background or an opague one. In other words, does the signature sometimes cover the other characters?

I think that with Paperport you will have an opaque one since you have to create a bitmap file.

Transparent background sounds interesting. How do could you do it?

Just wondering?
With a tablet PC can you actually sign a PDF document with your handwriting? Do you need a specific software?
For a laptop / desktop I guess one will need a product like Wacom's Bamboo Tablet. Any experience with this?

It is opaque and, yes, it may cover other areas. I made my signature reasonably small so it would not do that very often.

Leslie

There are two graphic file formats that support transparency:
1) the .gif - Compuserve
2) the .png

To create a transparent signature file, I would advise using a .gif.
First Scan your signature, signed in black ink, on a white sheet of paper. Scan as a black and white document.

In your photo editing software create a NEW image with a transparent gif format.

Open your scanned signature in the Image Editor

Copy your signarture and paste it into the new transparent file you created.

Select white as the "Transparent Color"

Only the signature should remain. Save the file and you're done.

To the best of knowledge, Paperport does not support GIF signatures.

Leslie

Leslie,

Will it support .png. I have made a transparent signature using Photoshop. It's probably a similar method as George's only more complicated. I used the trial version of Adobe Photoshop.

Romel,

I am not sure about the signing that you mention with a tablet, but you can make a transparent signature.

I have tried one method to make a signature and it works great in Adobe. I am since trying to make a better version, but haven't got there yet. Transparent signatures are nice, because overlap actually makes it look more real than less as an opaque one would.

I remember back when I used Internet fax software such as eFax. I tried about 15 of them. Only one gave you the option of a transparent signature using any format. The other 14 just couldn't get it. I kept trying to tell them you are better in other ways than eXtremeFax. Get a transparent signature, and I will use yours. All they could say was, duh...

Let me know if you want the steps. But, you would have to download the latest version of Adobe Photoshop. Trial.

This should probably be a "feature request." With MS Tablet PC SDk, you can add "ink" support to MS-Access applications. This will allow people to "sign" docs in AC.

The following article should be of interest:

http://www.mperfect.net/tabletWeb/

Bert,

The only format that the "Stamp" feature of Paperport supports is bitmap. Wish it supported others but because it cost me nothing, I will make do. In the end, I doubt it will really matter for much longer. I have been reading the details of the "Stimulus Package" and am so depressed I may have to put myself into insulin shock.

Leslie

Well I hope you recover from your insulin shock soon. I am still in a diabetic coma from the 3 trillion projected cost of the needless war in Iraq.

Despite using a tablet, I still find it easer to stamp signatures. Initially I had created the signature in the Windows Paint, but was irritated by the opaque backround of the stamp.
Using OpenOffice writer, the draw function's freeform line allowed me to make a signature... though not as clean as in Paint...actually had to piece the signature together. I printed it to the Adobe print driver as a PDF, then cropped the image to include just the signature. The custom stamp using this file is a transparent signature.