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Desktop app

Digital signature for a PDF, with a certificate

Coming to the PDFCheetah desktop app

Sign a PDF with a certificate or a DSC token, in the PDFCheetah desktop app.

What it will do

A digital signature is made with a certificate — a digital ID issued to you — rather than with a picture of your handwriting. It ties the PDF to you and seals it: anyone who opens it can check who signed it, and whether anything changed afterwards.

Signing with a certificate file or a USB token, including the Class 3 DSC tokens that Indian government portals such as MCA21 and GST ask for, is planned for the PDFCheetah desktop app. It is not yet scheduled.

Why it needs the desktop app

A browser tab is not allowed to reach your computer's certificate store or a USB token, and that is a protection rather than a gap: a web page that could use your signing key could sign anything.

The desktop app reaches them through your operating system, which asks for the token's PIN itself. The key never leaves the token.

Which signature do you need?

Most forms only need your signature to be seen on the page, and Sign PDF does that free in your browser today. A digital signature is a different thing, and only some documents need one.

  • Sign PDF. For a visual signature: draw, type or use a picture of your signature, free, in your browser.

A visual signature, with Sign PDF

  1. A picture of your signature, drawn, typed or from a photo, placed on the page.
  2. Right for most forms, letters and agreements that ask you to sign.
  3. Anyone can see it, but nothing in the file proves who placed it or that the page has not changed since.

A digital signature, with a certificate

  1. A cryptographic seal made with your certificate or DSC token.
  2. Needed where a portal, a court or a contract asks for a DSC or a certificate-signed PDF.
  3. A PDF reader shows who signed, and warns if anything changed after signing.

Signing with a certificate today

  1. Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is free, can sign with a certificate from its Use a certificate tool.
  2. DSC tokens usually come with a signing utility from the company that issued them.
  3. Either asks for your token's PIN; never type it into a web page.

Nothing on this page signs a file today, and Sign PDF's signature is a picture on the page, not a certificate signature.

The desktop app

The PDFCheetah desktop app is being built for Windows, macOS and Linux, to do the work a browser tab cannot, on your own computer. Its download page goes up when the app is published.

One email, when this tool is ready in the desktop app. No newsletter, and we do not pass it on.

Common questions

Is it free?
Certificate signing is planned as part of Pro in the desktop app, which has no price yet, so there is nothing to buy here. Sign PDF, for a visual signature, is free today.
Is my file or my certificate uploaded?
No. Nothing on this page takes a file. The desktop app will sign on your own computer, and your signing key stays in your certificate store or on your token.
When will it be ready?
There is no date yet. Leave your email above and we will send one message when it is ready in the desktop app.