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determine if the certificate in the digital signature is valid. To learn how to
install a certificate, search the Windows Help file for “certificate”.
Add a Digital Signature to a DWFx File
Design Review2013 can be used to digitally sign DWFx files. Only the DWFx
file format supports digital signatures. The DWF file format does not support
digital signatures. When attempting to digitally sign a DWF file, you are
prompted to save it as a DWFx file.
If a DWF file contains markup-, measure-, or printing-disablements, it cannot
be converted from the DWF to DWFx file format in Design Review.
Consequently, it is not possible to sign disabled DWF files. The DWF file with
disablements must be republished as a DWFx file from the originating design
program before it can be signed using Design Review.
Digitally signed DWFx files can only be viewed in Design Review 2013. If
recipients have an older version of Design Review, these versions do not
recognize that the DWFx file was digitally signed.
NOTE Add Digital Signature is not available when viewing an embedded DWFx
file. However, you can view digital signature details by clicking the digital signature
icon in the Canvas toolbar.
In some cases, an older version of Design Review may present a warning dialog
box, but the message does not specifically identify that the DWFx file was
digitally signed. It only indicates that the file contains an unsupported feature.
Whether or not a warning is shown, the file still opens. As a result, the
recipients using an older version of Design Review may unknowingly save
changes to the signed file, invalidating the digital signature. Before you
distribute a digitally signed file, notify recipients they need to upgrade to the
latest version of Design Review to retain the valid digital signature.
WARNING The Microsoft XPS Viewer does not support digitally signed DWFx files.
Working with Digitally Signed DWFx Files
Once you have a digitally signed DWFx file open, you can view it like any
other file, but modifying the DWFx file content in any way invalidates the
original digital signature if you re-save the file. The next person to open that
DWFx file is notified that the original digital signature is invalid, suggesting
that the DWFx file was modified since it was originally signed.
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