Digital IDs for PDF

A digital ID is much like paper-based identification such as a passport. It can prove who you are and give you special rights to do particular things. In the case of digital IDs in Nitro PDF Professional, your digital ID can let you make your PDF files tamper proof, as well as give you special access to files from users who have approved your digital ID. The beauty of digital IDs when securing a document is that you can change access and usage rights on a user-by-user basis.

Create a digital ID
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Digital IDs are comprised of a public and private key. The public key contains a certificate and identifying information, and this is what you share with other users. Once other users have your public key they can secure (encrypt) documents that you may be able to access and use. The private key is the part of the digital ID that is never shared and is the part of the ID that unlocks (decrypts) files that you have been granted access to and usage of.

Nitro PDF Professional supports the use of two types of digital IDs:

• PKCS#12 digital ID file. This type of digital ID is more flexible because you can use the same ID on multiple computers. For example, if you had an office workstation and a notebook with the same certificate installed, you could open the same secured PDF file on both computers. The digital ID remains secure when moved between computers as you must enter a password when you import it to your My Digital IDs.
• Windows Certificate Store. This type of digital certificate locks the ID to a user on a particular computer and cannot be copied and imported to another computer.