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What’s the difference between a digital signature, ConsignO Desktop and ConsignO Cloud?
A digital signature issued by Notarius allows to attach a verified identity and professional attributes (professional designation and affiliation, enterprise) to an electronic document using a recognized technological process based on cryptography. In the paper world, it’s the equivalent of the handwritten signature.
ConsignO products are tools for inserting digital signatures to PDF documents, on the page and position of your choice, with the proper appearance, in addition to offer advanced features to increase productivity. ConsignO Desktop allows as example to sign a batch of documents at once while ConsignO Cloud allows to get signatures from third parties by creating signature workflows.
To sign a PDF document with a digital signature, two elements are therefore needed:
- A digital signature linked to a verified identity
- A tool, such as ConsignO Desktop or ConsignO Cloud, to insert it in the document
Your digital signature issued by Notarius in conjunction with your order, association or company ensures, for an electronic document, the highest guarantees with regard to the identity of the signer, its integrity and its authenticity.
When manually signing a document, you guarantee that you agree with the text it contains. A digital signature allows the same, while adding extra information, such as professional attributes (your title, your affiliation to an order or association, your employer, etc.) A digital signature guarantees the authenticity of the document by proving who signed the document, the digital signature being protected by a password only known by the person to whom the signature has been delivered. In addition, it ensures the integrity of the document, as a digital signature is being invalidated if a modification is done to the content of a signed document.
A digital signature issued by Notarius is highly reliable and secured because:
- It contains cryptographically protected information;
- It requires the signer to hold a digital signature certificate, the issuance and control of which are governed by strict rules;
- It is issued by a trusted Certification Authority audited and controlled annually by recognized third parties;
- Its use is based on strong authentication methods.
A digital signature is therefore much more than a simple image on a document and has many advantages even over the handwritten signature.
To find out more about Notarius Digital Signature
ConsignO Desktop is a tool installed locally on a workstation allowing insertion of digital signatures to PDF documents. It allows user to determine where the signature should be inserted, the appearance (image of a handwritten signature, image of a seal) associated with it, to perform document stamping, to apply signature templates and finally the actual insertion of the digital signature in the document.
ConsignO Desktop also offers options for converting to the PDF/A standard in the context of long-term archiving of documents and also to sign in batch mode, ie several documents at the same time. Several of the functionalities have been thought out for professionals needing to digitally sign plans, drawings, specifications and contracts.
Documents signed with ConsignO Desktop are always signed with digital signatures.
To find out more about ConsignO Desktop
ConsignO Cloud is a web-based platform allowing documents to be signed by third parties in the context of a workflow. In a typical workflow, signers are notified by email, access the document via a web link, are authenticated and then sign the document.
It is possible to sign documents in ConsignO Cloud either using a digital signature issued by Notarius or to sign it electronically with an authentication based on a second factor such as a SMS code, a phone call or a shared secret.
ConsignO Cloud is therefore aimed at a wider spectrum of individuals and organizations with or without a digital signature issued by Notarius, but still needing a secure and trusted end-to-end process for signing electronic documents.
To find out more about ConsignO Cloud