To which form of Annotation can I convert a custom watermark so that it can be applied following PDF digital signature?

[phils_Zii]

We have been traditionally using the watermark feature to mark up PDFs following electronic approval in a PLM tool so that desiring customers can receive a distributed electronic copy and verify the agreed upon reviewers/approvers have been utilized. The approval stamp includes Change Order, Date of Effectivity, and the list of approvers and their respective roles. There are over 40 variations of Routes used in the PLM for which over 40 custom approval stamp variations have been created in PDF with form-enabled fields to improve accuracy for listing approver names.

We are now starting to have digitally approved documents being submitted for final electronic approval instead of wet signature approvals on some of these documents. An example is a QA signature on a specification that is then submitted through the full electronic approval process. We cannot apply the PDF watermark feature post approval as this is not considered an annotation that can be allowed following digital signature (at least for Adobe Standard X which we are currently using).

I would appreciate some assistance with resolving this dilemma. I am willing to explore various annotation options and pushing the digital signatories to utilize the option to allow for annotations post-approval.

[Joel_Geraci]

My suggestion is to create the PDF where the "watermark" is actually a layer (the bottom one) and the visibility of the layer is determined by the presence of the signature.  That way, the document doesn't actually change once signed, the watermark just starts to show up.

[phils_Zii]

Thanks Joel, however due to the possibility of variations in the actual person signing (using "one or more" electronic approval option for a single role), we cannot predict the actual approvers up front; the watermark approval stamp cannot be generated until the CO is approved. Also the effectivity date cannot be predicted either.

[Joel_Geraci]

Ok - So in that case, you'd need to "certify" the document rather than "sign" it, while certifying, you can allow annotations to be added to the document without invalidating the certification. You'd then create a dynamic stamp that contains the information you want to display as part of the watermark but because all annotations sit above the page content, the artwork for the stamp will need to be semi-transparent. If your PDF page content is black and the watermark is 50% black, you won't be able to tell the difference.