How To Digitally Sign PDF Documents

I frequently have documents I need to sign and send back.  The documents are often one time use, and I feel like it's a waste of paper to print it out, sign it and send it back.  I tried finding a source online that would show me the best way to do this, but I wasn't able to find a good free option, so I figured out how to do it myself.

In this post, I'll show you how you can digitally sign your PDF documents.  You'll probably need to download Foxit PDF viewer as it has tools Adobe Acrobat Reader does not.

Using Foxit PDF Reader, and Microsoft Paint you can end up with pretty decent results.  While they aren't perfect, they get the job done.

I should mention that I'm not a lawyer, and since we are moving into the legal realm a little with signatures, you should be very careful, and ensure that your files are secure.  Otherwise, someone may be able to use your digital signature for all sorts of nefarious activities.

Step One: Find/create a digital copy of your signature.

If you don't have a file that includes your signature, just sign a blank piece of paper and scan it to your hard drive.  Here's my PDF that I'll start with:

 

With the PDF open, click the "PrtScn" or "Print Screen" Button on your keyboard.  This will copy your screen to the clipboard on your computer.  Now open Microsoft Paint.

 

Step 2: Edit your Digital Signature (if your file is already in an editable format, you can skip the next bit of instructions as I'm dealing with a PDF copy of a signature.

 With Paint open, past your signature to the program by pressing Ctrl+V.  Use the selection tool to select the portion of your signature you'd like to use.  After selecting your signature, cut it by pressing Ctrl+X, open a new Paint project and paste (Ctrl+V) your signature onto a fresh canvas.

 

I like to darken my signature a bit, because sometimes a scan will be a little light.  Paint doesn't really have a darken option, but I found a way to work around that.  Here's what I do: Choose the rectangle shape tool, outline your signature with a rectangle, choose the fill option set it to "Marker"and change the "Color 2" to black.  It should look something like this:

 



Outline it one more time with a rectangle, and your name will not be visible.  Then choose the "option" and fill the rectangle with white paint.  Your name will once again appear, and it will be a much more uniform black color.  You may need to touch it up a bit, but it is pretty easy.  Here's what it will look like before and after darkening:

Step 3: Adding Your Signature to a PDF: 

Now that you have a nice dark signature, you can add it to a PDF using Foxit PDF Viewer.  Open the PDF you want to sign using Foxit, click Edit=>Insert=>Image.  Click and drag to create the spot where you want the signature on the PDF.  If your lucky like me, you don't have a name that takes up too much space, or drops down below the signature line.

 

An image in Foxit basically covers up anything it is placed on.  So if you have a big signature,  you'll need to change the opacity of the image.  This will make your signature lighter, and everything your image covers lighter as well.  To change Opacity, double click on your signature image, a setting dialog will open and you can drag the bar to change opacity.  While you're there, you should change the "Appearance" of the image to remove the box that outlines the image.  You can do this by clicking the drop down and selecting "No Border".  Here's what the PDF will look like while you edit it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After, I edit the PDF, I'll usually print the file to PDF which makes my changes permanent and makes it so they can't be easily edited, or deleted.  I use a program called  Primo PDF to print my file to PDF.  It works just like a printer.  You print your file like you normally would, but instead of clicking the drop down and using your printer to print the image, you'll choose Primo PDF Printer from the print dialogue box.

 

There you have it.  It's not perfect, but it gets the job done.

HUD Homes for 1/20/2010

My thoughts on HUD homes that hit the market can be viewed HERE

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Free Credit Repair Guide Part II

3. Rank questionable/negative items

Step 2 covered how to identify items, both positive and negative on your credit report. Now you have this list, you should rank each item according to the amount of damage they are doing to your overall credit picture. Rank the most damaging information first, followed by the next most damaging information, followed by those items which are neutral. Do this for each credit report, as remember, they may not all have the same information on them. They may even have duplicate information. If this is the case, you will need to write to each credit agency individually for each duplicate item.

The items here are listed in order of descending importance with the first item being the "most damaging" to your credit.

• Bankruptcy
• Foreclosure
• Repossession
• Loan Default
• Court Judgments
• Collections
• Past due payments
• Late Payments
• Credit Rejections
• Credit Inquiries

Also, if your creditor has NOT notified you of negative information they have recently placed on your credit report, they are currently in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. You can use this to pressure the original creditor to remove the listing by reminding them they are in violation of the FCRA by not notifying you.

4. Requesting Corrections and Disputing Your Credit

What should you challenge?

Everything, and you should always shoot for a complete deletion. In your initial challenge, don't dispute the information within a collection listing, charge-off, court record, repossession, foreclosure, or settled account. Save disputing the information within the listing for the NEXT ROUND OF DISPUTES. Start off the reason for your dispute on a negative listing whenever possible as "not mine". For a list of the most common dispute reasons, go here.

What items are the toughest to get off your report?

You will have the toughest time getting bankruptcies, judgments, child support and foreclosures off of your credit report as these things are so easy for the credit bureaus to verify electronically through e-Oscar. In the case of a bankruptcy, you most likely will have a few trade lines saying "included in Bankruptcy". If you want to challenge your bankruptcy, you need to clear off all credit lines mentioning a BK FIRST.

Edouardo decided to challenge each and every one of his collections, as well as his credit card late payment. He wrote a letter to each of the credit reporting agencies that:

• listed each of his negative listings by name, collection agency and amount of the delinquency
• Under each of the list accounts, he said he was disputing the accuracy.
• He also included his Name, SSN, Address, and a copy of his driver's license.
• Edouardo sent his letters via Express Mail, which gives him a receipt for the mailing, and guarantees delivery. Total expense for Express Mail: $36.
• Here is an example credit dispute letter.

Free 15 Step Credit Repair Guide

Basic Credit Repair Strategy

The basic strategy to repairing your credit is as follows:

1. Get and review your credit report.
2. Analyze your report.
3. Make a list of all items you consider to be questionable or negative. Clearly identify each item in your report that you dispute, explain why you dispute the information,
4. Write a dispute letter bureaus.
5. Send the letter to the credit bureaus. Make sure you send it registered or certified mail.
6. Document your efforts.Record when you sent your letters, and the results.
7. Wait for the bureaus to investigate your claims.
8. Analyze the results.
9. Repeat.
10. Specialized techniquesWas the item deleted or changed to your satisfaction? You may continue steps 1, 2 and 3 above until you feel the dispute is settled satisfactorily. Remember, there is no charge for a reinvestigation. If you don’t get the results you want, dispute the listing again.
11. Free Sample Letters
12. What if a removed negative item comes back on my credit report?
13. What if I get stuck and need help?
14. Eduardo's Results
15. Feeling overwhelmed by this process and think you don't have the time? You do!

That's all there is to it. Seems easy enough but you must have patience, because the credit bureaus are not always very cooperative. They make their money by providing credit reports to lenders not by fixing bad information in their databases.

1. Get your credit report.

To obtain free copies of your report, please see Getting and reading your credit report.Please note: when you get a free report, you are not going to see your credit score, which is a crucial tool in getting your credit in shape. Here is a comparison chart of online credit score purchase options.

Eduardo ordered his credit report and scores from Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax for $34.95. Note: this service also came with a credit report monitoring service which he used during his credit repair efforts to monitor his progress.

2. Analyze your credit report.

You can analyze your credit as outlined in "Decoding Your Report".

Once paying for his credit reports & scores online, Eduardo download his report and saved it to his computer. Eduardo used the free credit report analyzer which came with his credit report order to figure out which items on his report were damaging. After reviewing his credit reports, printed out his report then highlighted everything he saw as a negative listing along with what the computer analysis pointed out. Most of them were medical collections, and were easy to spot. However, he does notice that one of the bureaus is reporting him as late on a payment to one of his credit cards, and he knows he paid it on time.

In addition, Edouardo has read that as part of the new FACTA legislation to protect consumers from identity theft, he was supposed to have been notified of the negative mark. He is sure he was never notified.

New HUD Homes Hit The Market This Week

Click here for more detailed information on these homes, as well as a searchable list of these HUD homes.

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