Trust a signer’s certificate

Signature validity relies on the authenticity of the digital ID certificate. The signature is valid if the signer’s certificate has already been set as a trusted identity in the list of trusted identities; otherwise, the signature validity status becomes unknown.

Therefore, to validate a signature, exchanging certificates and adding them to your list of trusted identities are required. Alternatively, you can import certificates from a signature in a signed document and then set them as trusted roots. See Manage Trusted Identities.

Do one of the following to make a signature valid:

• Manage your list of trusted identities. In the Manage Trusted Identities dialog box, add a certificate and set it as a trusted root.

• Directly add a certificate from a signature to your list of trusted identities. In the Signatures Properties dialog box, click Verify Identity… and then click Add as a Trusted Root. The certificate of the signer’s signature is added to your list of trusted identities and automatically set as a trusted root.