Basic concepts

To better understand this guide and the use of the software you need to have a knowledge of the basic terminology used within this guide and within the software.

Common terms

PDF file

Portable Document Format, commonly abbreviated as PDF, is a file format based on a document description language developed by Adobe Systems in 1993 to represent documents independently of the hardware and software used to generate or display them. It captures all the elements of a printed document as an electronic image that you can view, navigate, print, or forward to someone else. PDF files are especially useful for documents such as magazine articles, product brochures, or flyers in which you want to preserve the original graphic appearance online. A PDF file contains one or more pages of images and text, each of which you can zoom in on or out from. You can page forward and backward.

Dossier

In the sign application, dossier refers to a set of documents composed of one or more pages grouped and/or appropriately named. The single PDF file can be digitally signed, the dossier can’t.

A dossier is a link or set of links, to several PDF files stored in a physical medium: local or remote.

If the PDF contained within a file is renamed, moved or removed outside of sign application, the link will not be updated and then when the file is opened, sign application will not be able to retrieve the PDF file.

The dossier organizes the set of pdf documents for subsequent consultation, printing or sending. The sign application permit two types of dossiers: Simple Dossier and Advanced dossier.

Simple dossier

The simple dossier is a set of heterogeneous PDF documents. With a simple dossier the user can archive their PDF documents in a structured way. You can use a simple file to edit, fill in, and sign the document.

Advanced dossier

The advanced dossier has a specific logical structure formed by a subgroup called Documents and a second called Attach. The Documents group includes the PDF files that must be digitally compiled and signed.

The Attach group, however, may be copies of identity documents, additional files, appendices to the main document or all documents that, taken individually, will not be signed, but should be merged with the main document to create a digital file.

Digital and graphometric signature

For a more detailed explanation please refer to www.graphosign.com

Acrofield

PDF standard form field. A form field is an interactive field in the PDF document. It can be a text field, a radio button, checkbox or other less common types. A PDF document containing Acrofields can be modified and compiled.

Sign area

A dynamic rectangular area that can be freely repositioned, resized or deleted. The sign area is the location in the document where a digital signature will be placed.

Sign field

A static rectangular area that cannot be manipulated by the user. It is stored as an integral part of the PDF document and cannot be removed in digitally signed documents. Like the signature area, the signature field represents the portion of the document where the user will enter the digital signature. The signature field is a native Acrofield.

Signature template

The signature template is the list of signature fields of a document that can be signed. This list can be saved both on file and in memory.

Saved in memory

The signature template cannot be extracted as a stand-alone list to be reused with other documents. It is closely related to the document name, its location and the file it’s in.

Saved in file

The template saved in file, however, can be reloaded and used later for more documents with the same structure.

Software license

To use the digital signature tool it is necessary to request, install and activate a license. The software license is the grant of use of the software for a single device for a limited period of time which can be renewed later.