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How to verify the validity of a signature?

Easily check if electronic signatures on your documents are valid and trustworthy using Adobe Reader's built-in verification tools.

Support Team avatar
Written by Support Team
Updated over a week ago

Introduction

When you receive signed documents through Ledgy, you may want to independently verify the authenticity of the signatures. This article explains how to use Adobe Acrobat Reader to verify different types of electronic signatures and understand their validity status.

Verifying signatures with Adobe Reader

If you want to check the validity of the signatures independent of Ledgy, you can do so with Adobe Acrobat Reader.

You can verify signatures in Adobe Reader using two methods:

Method 1: Right-click on the signature

  1. Open your signed PDF document in Adobe Reader

  2. Locate any signature field in the document

  3. Right-click directly on the signature

  4. Select "Show Signature Properties" from the menu

  5. A dialog box will open showing the signature's validity status and details

Method 2: Using the Signatures Panel

  1. Open the document in Adobe Reader

  2. Click on View > Show/Hide > Navigation Panes > Signatures, or click the Signature Panel button in the document message bar

Note: You can right-click a signature field in the Signatures panel to do most signature-related tasks, including adding, clearing, and validating signatures. In some cases, however, the signature field becomes locked after you sign it.

When digital signatures are validated, an icon appears in the document message bar to indicate the signature status. You can inspect additional status details in the Signatures panel and in the signature properties dialog box.

VerifySignature

Signatures panel for digital signatures

The Signatures panel displays information about each digital signature in the current document and the change history of the document since the first digital signature. Each digital signature has an icon identifying its verification status. Verification details are listed beneath each signature and can be viewed by expanding the signature. The Signatures panel also provides information about the time the document was signed, and trust and signer details.

Types of signatures you'll see in Ledgy documents

Ledgy supports multiple signature types, each with different security levels:

  • SES (Simple Electronic Signature): Signed by Ledgy

  • AES (Advanced Electronic Signature): Verified with a phone number

  • QES (Qualified Electronic Signature): Highest legal value, showing individual signee names

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