PHP Adobe Signature PDF Hand writing with mouse or stylus

Question

I am trying to integrate Adobe Signature in PDF where end user can sign it on browser itself, I want his/her hand written signature on it. End user will use his/her mouse to draw the signature. This PDF creation is written in PHP and application contains Adobe APIs.

I referred to the Handwritten Adobe page and Adobe tags I have also referred to Stack 1 and stack 2, not matching to my requirement. I was able to sign the custom runtime generated PDF document using {{Sig_es_:signer1:signature}}

I checked it at several places including Stackoverflow, but i cant find any such reference document which can guide me to code for hand written signatures. i also need to understand if Hand written signatures have any limitation or drawbacks or any privacy/security issues. Let me know if anyone knows How to proceed on this.

Answer 1

Re:

i also need to understand if Hand written signatures have any limitation or drawbacks or any privacy/security issues.

Yes, there are lots of limitations and drawbacks. You need to consider the issues of forgery (someone else signing as me, Larry) and non-reputability (I signed it but later claim that it wasn't me. How do you prove that it was Larry who signed it?)

There's also the overall context of the signature: what is the value of the agreement? What are the consequences of not being able to prove that the right person did sign the document?

Adobe Sign (and their competitors) have answers to all of the above. eSignatures are far more complicated than just getting something that looks like the person's signature on the PDF.

Pro-tip: how the signature looks on the PDF is the least important part of the process.

Answer 2

Draw a signature with a mouse? That will not work. I can't do that. A finger on a phone would work better. Still clumsy, but better.

Drawn signatures are old fashioned in the digital world, and require complex verifiable encryption. You would have to prove that the digital copy you have, was indeed drawn within the exact document it appears in. Digital things can, after all, be copied easily. Whenever there's a dispute you would have to prove that the signature is an inherent part of the unchangeable digital document. This is far more difficult than it seems at first. That's why it is usually quite expensive.

I would strongly advice to not go down this road. Find another solution.

You haven't explained what you want to use the signature for, which makes it difficult for me to suggest another solution, so I won't.