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MS Word Plug-Ins (2013 & 2016)
)
Overview
The Topaz MS Office Plug-In software allows users to electronically capture a handwritten
signature in a Microsoft Word document using a Topaz signature pad and pen. Each
signature is embedded and bound solely to the text of the document. A change made to
any part of the text of the document after signing, even something as minimal as hitting the
spacebar or enter key, renders the signature invalid in order to protect the signer.
However, if the text is returned to the state it was in when the document was signed, the
signature will once again be considered valid. Please note that form fields (such as drop
down menus, radio buttons, etc.) are excluded from the binding process.
Please make sure you first install the current version of SigPlus:
www.topazsystems.com/sigplusproactivex.html
Then, install the plug-in at:
www.topazsystems.com/plugins.html
Signing in MS Word
Before you can sign, you must make sure that you are in
“
Print Layout
”
. To accomplish this,
go to the
“
View
”
tab on the toolbar and choose
“
Print Layout
”.
Once your document is
ready to be signed, click the
“
Add-Ins
”
toolbar and the pencil icon,
“Topaz:
Sign
Doc”
.
If, after you open Word, you don't see the
“
Add-Ins
”
tab, click on the
“
File
”
tab
“O
ptions
”
“
Add-Ins
”
. At the bottom of the window, change the dropdown to
“
Word Add-ins
”
and click
“
Go". In the window that appears, you should see
“TopazSig3.dot” listed.
Make sure it is
checked.
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The signing window will open once the
“
Sign Doc
”
icon under the
“
Add-Ins
”
tab is clicked.
Once the signing window is open, there are a number of options a user can choose:
The “Cancel”
button will cancel the signature event.
The “Clear”
button will clear any signature in the signature window.
The “Done”
button will bind the signature to the document text (embed into document).
The user can name the signature by using the specified field,
“Type
the name
for the signature box here
(optional)”,
located below the buttons.
A time and date stamp can be included by checking the
“Stamp”
box in the lower right
hand corner.
If the document requires initials instead of a signature, check the
“Initials”
box. This will
place a smaller signature field in the document.
Creating a Trusted Location
If an error message regarding Macro security arises when attempting to sign, a trusted
location needs to be created in Word. To create a trusted location in Word 2013 & 2016,
click on the
“
File
”
Tab
“
Options
”
“
Trust Center
”
“
Trust Center Settings
”
“
Trusted
Locations
”
“
Add New Location
”
“
Browse
”
. Navigate to
“C”
“
Program
Files”
“
Microsoft
Office”
“Office15”
“
STARTUP
”
. Click
“
O
K”
.
Now the plug-in location is trusted and
“
Macro Security
”
needs to be changed. Click on the
“
File
” tab
“
Options
”
“
Trust Center
”
“
Trust Center Settings
”
“
Macro Settings
”
.
Select
“Disable
all macros except digitally signed
macros”,
click
“
O
K”
, and close Word.
Adding Topaz as a Trusted Publisher
In order to overcome the requirement to click-
through “Enable Content” when Word is
opened, you can set-up Topaz Systems, Inc. as a trusted publisher in Word. Follow the
steps below to do so:
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1) Open a new Word document, and click
“
Macros have been disabled
”
in the
“
Security
Warning
”
bar at the top.
2) The
“
Info
”
window will appear. Click
“
Enable Contact
”
“
Advanced Options
”
.
3) In the window that appears, select
“
Trust all documents from this publisher
”
.
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4) To ensure that Topaz Systems, Inc. has been added as a trusted publisher, check
your list of Trusted Publishers. Click
“
File
”
“
Options
”
“
Trust Center
”
“
Trust
Center Settings
…”
“
Trusted Publishers
”
.
Signature Placement
When signing in MS Word, the
signature’s
bottom-left edge will be placed at the cursor
location. The
signature’s
height is automatically sized based on the amount of space above
the cursor before any text is reached. The plug-in sizes a signature using its baseline as a
reference, rather than its top edge. If the cursor is immediately beneath a line of text, the
plug-in will adjust its size to fit from the cursor up to the text above - only one line - rather
than using any available space below the cursor. To ensure that your signatures are
displayed at the proper size, make sure that you leave enough space between the cursor
and any page items appearing above it before signing.
Electronic signatures can be a maximum size of 0.7 of an inch height and 3.5 inches in
width (For larger signatures, email support@topazsystems.com ).
Before signing, the cursor is placed sufficiently below the last line of text, leaving room to create
a signature field.
Cursor
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Each signature can be positioned by moving the cursor to the desired place in the
document and going through the signing procedure above. Be sure to plan ahead for the
placement of your signature and create enough space to facilitate all necessary signatures
before the signing process is initiated. Note: pressing the
“
Space Bar
”
or the
“
Enter Key
”
after signing will result in the invalidation of any previously-signed signature fields.
Naming Signatures
The “Signature Select”
box will list all the signatures already embedded in your document.
The names listed in this box will correspond to the name of a particular signature. If no
name was entered during signing, a default listing of SigPlus1, SigPlus2, etc. will be
displayed. Each
signature’s
name can also be found in the top right corner of each
signature field.
When you highlight a particular
signature’s
name in the
“Signature
Select”
box, you may
delete the signature by clicking the
“Delete”
button, or make a new signature by signing
again and clicking
“Done”.
Highlighting
“New”
in the
“Signature
Select”
box will create a
new signature. If a user is unsure whether they are creating a new signature field or
signing a currently existing one, there is a message below the signature window that
indicates the function being performed.
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Changing the Size of a Signature Field
“
Design Mode
”
, found under the
“
Developer
”
tab, is a useful tool that can alter the size and
location of a signature field, blank or otherwise, to better fit the
user’s
needs. To access
“
Design Mode
”
, click on the
“
Developer
”
tab at the top of the screen. If the
“
Developer
”
tab
cannot be found along the Ribbon, click on the
“
File
”
tab
“Options”
“
Customize Ribbon
”
.
Select
“Main
Tabs”
from the drop down menu on the left side of the window
under “Customize
the
Ribbon”.
You should see
“Developer”
listed. Make sure that it is checked, and click
“OK”
.
After you have completely exited the options window,
“
Developer
”
should appear as a tab at
the top of the screen. In the
“
Developer
”
tab, click the
“Design
Mode”
icon to activate
“
Design Mode
”
.
In
“
Design Mode
”,
you can now click on the signature field to position and size it. Holding the
“Alt”
key while performing this will allow for fine-tuning. When finished, make sure to
deactivate
“
Design Mode
”
by clicking on the
“Design
Mode”
icon.
Pre-Placing Blank Signature Fields
A user can also pre-place a blank signature field into a Word document by following these
steps:
Place the cursor in the general location of the desired signature position.
Click the
“
Sign Doc
”
button, to open the
“
Sign Document
”
window. If desired, the user can name
the signature and enable/disable the time stamp at this time as well. Click the
“Done”
button
without signing and a blank signature field will be embedded in the document.
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To sign a blank signature field, click the
“
Sign Doc
”
icon. On the right hand side of the
“
Sign
Document
”
window, you will find the
“
Signature Select
”
box. Choose the blank signature
field that you want to sign. Once chosen, sign and click
“Done”.
The signature will be placed in the corresponding blank signature field.
The benefits of pre-placed blank signature fields include:
1. Consistent placement and size of signatures.
2. Ease of use as signature placement is independent of cursor position.
3. Dramatic reduction in time needed for signing process.
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MS Word Plug-Ins (2013 & 2016)
)
Validating Signatures
The “Validate Sig”
button, located next to the
“
Sign Doc
”
button and denoted by a checkmark
icon, will check the validity of each signature in the document.
If changes have been made to the textual contents of a document after signing has taken
place, the signature(s) will be rendered invalid and appear to be blank. NOTE: Notice the
change in text has resulted in an invalid (blank) signature. Neither the signature, nor
the signature field is visible in the document.
If a signature is invalid, the ONLY way to restore the signature to a valid state is to return the
document to the state it was in when signed and click
“Validate Sig”
again.
NOTE: The text has been restored to its original state. The signature has returned
and is once again considered valid
.
Any change to the document can render a signature invalid, even a change as small as
adding a space after a sentence. The
“Validate
Sig”
button can be clicked at any time
while the document is open, and should be clicked any time the user wants to know the
status of the signature(s).
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