Document Trust

Three elements: verified identity of the signer (through CA validation procedures), cryptographic integrity of the signed document (any modification after signing breaks the signature), and legal framework recognition (under statutes like E-SIGN, UETA, eIDAS that give digital signatures the same legal effect as wet-ink signatures). SSL.com document signing certificates meet all three. Identity is verified under CA/Browser Forum procedures against government-issued ID (IV) or business registration (OV). Cryptographic integrity is guaranteed by PKI and hardware-backed private keys. And the resulting signatures are legally binding under US E-SIGN Act, UETA (49 states plus DC), EU eIDAS, 21 CFR Part 11, and equivalent frameworks worldwide.

An electronic signature is any electronic indication of consent, a typed name, a mouse-drawn scribble, a checkbox, or an image of your signature. Platforms like DocuSign and Adobe Sign primarily produce electronic signatures. A digital signature is a specific cryptographic operation using a PKI certificate. It produces a mathematical binding between the signer's verified identity, the exact content of the document, and a trusted timestamp. Digital signatures are a subset of electronic signatures with stronger evidentiary properties: they detect document tampering, they cryptographically prove who signed, and they are recognized as Advanced Electronic Signatures (AdES) under eIDAS and equivalent frameworks. SSL.com issues digital signature certificates, the cryptographic kind.

Yes. Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader (free) verify SSL.com document signatures automatically, SSL.com is an Adobe Approved Trust List (AATL) member, which means every Acrobat and Reader installation worldwide recognizes SSL.com signatures without any configuration. Recipients simply open the PDF in Acrobat or Reader. Valid signatures display a green check with the signer's verified name; tampered documents show a red warning. No plugins, no certificate installation, no recipient-side setup.

eSigner for Documents is SSL.com's cloud signing service. A document signing certificate is the cryptographic identity used to sign; eSigner is the service that hosts your certificate's private key in SSL.com's FIPS 140-2 Level 3 cloud HSM so you can sign from anywhere. With eSigner: no hardware token to carry, sign from any device via eSigner Express web app, or automate high-volume signing (eSealing) via the Cloud Signature Consortium (CSC) API. You can enroll any IV, OV, or IV+OV document signing certificate in eSigner. The signatures it produces verify identically to signatures from a hardware token.

PDF is the most common, signed in Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Sign, or via eSigner Express. Microsoft Office formats (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) support digital signatures natively, with signer verification shown in the document's Info pane. Beyond PDF and Office, any document format that supports PKCS#7 / CAdES signatures can be signed with SSL.com certificates, XML (XAdES), code signing formats, and arbitrary binaries via signtool or equivalent tools. For programmatic signing across custom formats, the CSC API integrates with any application that can make HTTPS calls.