Digital Signature with card reader

[NixName]

Hello, is it possible to sign a PDF with an electronic signature using a card reader and chip card?
How to do?

[Dimitar - Tracker Supp]

Hello NixName,

Yes, it is possible.

First you need to install the drivers and the managing software that comes with your Electronic Signature.
Then you need to register it to the System trough the managing software.
After that, the signature should appear in the "Use Certificate from System Store"

If you have any difficulty, please refer to the Installation and Operation Manual for your electronic signature.


Regards.

[NixName]

Then you need to register it to the System trough the managing software.

What does this means? My Signature works with programs like SecSigner oder DigiSeal. This programs can use the CardReader.

Does XChange can use the CardReader also?

[Dimitar - Tracker Supp]

Hello NixName,

The PDF-XChange uses the certificates that are registered in the Windows System Store.
When the chip card is inserted into the card reader, the certificate is registered to the system.
But in some cases, especially if the certificate is not present in the list,
you need to register it manually through the card managing software.
This is done only once, after that, the digital signature is automatically registered every time when you insert the chip card.

Regards.

[anybodym]

The PDF-XChange uses the certificates that are registered in the Windows System Store.
When the chip card is inserted into the card reader, the certificate is registered to the system.

How does this work exactly? I have imported the certificates from the D-Trust Chipcard using the D-Trust Card assistant.
I have imported two "personal" certificates from the card into (as seen in certmgr.msc) to Certificates - Current User => Personal => Certifcates

and I have imported
"D-TRUST Limited Basic CA 1-4-2019"
"D-TRUST CA 3-1 2016"
into Certificates - Current User => Intermediate Certification Authorities => Certificates

and I have imported
"D-TRUST Limited Basic Root CA 1 2019"
"D-TRUST Root CA 3 2016"
info Certificates - Current User => Trusted Root Certification Authorities => Certificates

The personal certificates in Certificates - Current User => Personal => Certifcates are now shown as valid with a valid certification path after importing the root and intermediate Certificaters into the correct store locations.

However: They are still now shown when I want to sign a PDF with PDF XChange Editor as selectable from the Certificate Store. The only thing I can select here are two S/MIME Certificates which were bought for E-Mail use but not the D-TRUST Certificates from the Chipcard which was bought to sign PDF documents.

When comparing how the S/MIME certificates look in certmgr.msc compared to the imported D-TRUST Certificates the only thing that looks different is that for the S/MIME certificates (which appear in PDF XChange Editor) it shows "You have a private key that corresponds to this certificate" while this is not shown for the D-TRUST certificates, which I presume is because the private key is securely stored on the chipcard and never transferred to the computer.

How do I make the certificate from the chipcard appear in in PDF-XChange Editor so I can sign the PDFs?
I was under the impression PDF-XChange Editor can do this? In another company we had "digiSeal office" Software to do this, but I really want to use PDF XChange Editor Plus instead of having a separate software for this...

[TrackerSupp-Daniel]

Hi, anybodym

Our software requires a private key to be present for signing. Generally, importing certificates into the Store manually should not be necessary, so long as your thumb-drive with the certificate present is physically connected to the PC, it should automatically appear, and be usable by all apps, including ours, which are capable of using them.

Kind regards,

[anybodym]

importing certificates into the Store manually should not be necessary, so long as your thumb-drive with the certificate present is physically connected

I'm not quite sure what "thumb drive is present" is supposed to mean, but here is a picture of my "thumb drive" with the signature card in the slot:


This is currently used with the digiSeal office software and a D-Trust Signature card to sign PDF documents (which Adobe Reader then accepts as valid and shows as signed by a trusted CA). This works, but it would really be great if signing could be done with our PDF-X-Change Editor Plus Licenses instead of having to use separate software. I assume Card Reader + Smartcard is not currently supported? Any chance this might be supported in the future? We have the 3 year maintenance pack of course so almost any point in the future is fine, there is no hurry Perhaps something that can be implemented in v9.0 ?

[TrackerSupp-Daniel]

Hi, anybodym

I have just brought this to our Development team and they have confirmed that this device should be working without issue as is. As we do not have access to this exact model we cannot reproduce the issue on our end.

If you could please Email <support@pdf-xchange.com.com> to continue this conversation (please include a link to this post). We would like to discuss the option of having a remote session with you where we do some debugging on a virtual machine that has this connected and try to see what is wrong.

Kind regards,

[wtm engineers gmbh]

Hi, is there any solution for the problem with card reader and signature card?

[NixName]

I work with DigiSeal. But I would still prefer PDF XChange. Is there already a solution?

[TrackerSupp-Daniel]

Hello, NixName

This issue only seems to affect certain devices, so each needs to be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Placing a digital signature in the Editor is a Free feature, so if you are on the fence for this reason, the best advice I can offer is to download the software, and try it.

If signing with your particular device works, that is fantastic, if it does not, please email support@pdf-xchange.com, with details about your device, and we will look into that case with you directly.

Kind regards,