A Guide to Kofax Power PDF: Digital Signatures 101
Companies create agreements with each other and with clients. And contracts are a vital part of creating these agreements to make sure both parties uphold the agreed upon terms. Simply put, today’s businesses need more than a handshake to guarantee that the product or service will be delivered as promised and on time.
Power PDF provides an efficient way for businesses to create agreements rapidly. Let’s examine why electronic signatures aren’t sufficient to ensure legitimacy, how a third party can verify digital signatures’ validity, and how Power PDF gives businesses the chance to safely come to legally-binding agreements without ever having to meet face to face:
The Changing World of Commerce
By its very nature, commerce has always had a litigious aspect. Businesses create agreements with each other, but without a governing body to enforce contracts, agreements can’t be enforced. Confirmation of a contract’s legitimacy is important, and historically carried out through physical signatures on paper documents. In the modern world, businesses need faster ways to settle contracts.
Despite the need for speed, there are difficulties that present instant messaging and email communications from being legitimate alternatives. Email addresses can be spoofed, and instant messages lack any proper identification. Ultimately, you never know who is on the other end, and relying on an untraceable communication is a recipe for legal trouble. You need another way to get your contracts legally authenticated using PDFs that use digital signatures.
Legal Ramifications of Using Digital Signatures
Digital signatures are a significant development for modern businesses. In the past, official documents could only rely on physical, handwritten signatures to safely verify the authenticity of a document. While it was possible to forge a signature even in that case, a physical signature still represented a much safer way of authorizing sensitive transactions than electronic signatures.
Electronic signatures are nothing more than pictures of signatures. Such images can easily be copied, edited or duplicated. Images of signatures that appear on documents are helpful for form letters but don’t offer authentication. For a digital format to genuinely serve as a form of authentication, it must confirm the identity of those who complete it and a verifiable “chain of custody”.
Balancing Accessibility and Security with Digital Signatures
Power PDF verifies the author’s signatures and traces its “chain of custody”. This kind of authentication ensures your digital signatures create a legal PDF form, such as business agreements and employment contracts. Use Power PDF to ensure the identity of the recipient through password protection or network credentials, then confirm the document remained unaltered between the time when the recipient signed it and when you received it.
Only when you can prove both the authenticity and unaltered quality of a PDF you can use it as a genuinely legal document. Power PDF protects your interests and ensures that you have all the necessary legal backing for any agreement. Even if your clients don’t use Power PDF, you can grant them access to securely sign any PDF-based contract that you create.
Use Power PDF to Work with Your Legal PDFs Safely
Whether you’re a small firm that’s just getting started or a larger company with dozens or hundreds of employees, Power PDF scales to suit your needs without charging exorbitant rates for licenses. You can choose between our basic, premium, and enterprise packages. Get full access to the legal PDF protections that Power PDF provides by securing your license now.
For those who want to explore the numerous features of Power PDF, try it for a 15-day free trial period. Install Power PDF and discover how it improves the way that your business works with PDFs and secures agreements with your clients. Our experienced team is ready to answer any questions you may have regarding the security features and functions of Power PDF. Contact us for additional information today.