2022-09: Update - Signature Plugin: Our new signature features are here!

2022-09: Update - Signature Plugin: Our new signature features are here!

Many of you asked us. Today, we are happy to announce it to you.

During the last months, we worked hard to develop our signature plugin in order to better meet your needs and satisfy your expectations.

As you suggested, we have included in our new version the possibility of using PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) certificates. This means that, from now on, you have the possibility to choose to certify your signatures either with the Secure Exchanges Signature Certificate or with the PKI Digital Signature Certificate.

Both certificates have the same purpose: To certify the authenticity, integrity and non-alteration of your documents while ensuring their confidentiality.


Having the same role, so what is the difference between Secure Exchanges signing certificate and PKI digital signing certificate?


  1. The Secure Exchanges signature certificate is represented in the form of an additional page* which is added to your document certifying its authenticity, the identity of the signatories, the fingerprint of your document. It certifies your document without having access to its content . It is based on the verification of the fingerprint of your document and on the IP addresses of your signatories. Your document therefore remains 100% confidential and cannot be read on our servers at any time and is never stored on them.
*Depending on your preferences, you can choose not to include the Secure Exchanges signing certificate on your documents. The authenticity of these can still be verified as indicated on this article.
  1. The PKI digital signature certificate, on the other hand, is a digital certificate, so no additional page is added to your document, also certifying its authenticity as well as the identity of the signers. Unlike the Secure Exchanges signing certificate, the PKI digital signing certificate requires access to the signed document in order to certify it. All PKI digital signature certificates are stored in the PDF document and trusted by a recognized authority.

What does the introduction of the PKI digital signature certificate imply on the side of Secure Exchanges?

The introduction of the PKI digital signature certificate involves a small change in our process. As explained above, Secure Exchanges signature certificates do not require access to the document unlike the PKI digital signature certificate.

Since Secure Exchanges' main mission is to maintain the confidentiality of your documents, our team has integrated the PKI certificate into its process without them being able to access it themselves.

As you know, during exchanges with Secure Exchanges, your e-mails are encrypted from end to end on the basis of two digital keys, one public and the second private. Neither the Secure Exchanges team nor its servers have access to your exchanges.

However, when you choose to use a PKI digital signature certificate, which is based solely on public key encryption, we have had to introduce a stage in which, during the transition via our servers, they will have a limited access to your documents in order to affix the PKI digital signature certificate. However, your documents will in no case be stored on our servers or accessible to our team.


So what are the changes to expect?

Our new update includes new features that will give you more convenience and more options when signing your documents.

From now on, you will see new options appear on the interface for signing your documents:



  1. Add a new signer to your document without having to leave the signature zone definition interface
  2. Assign certain signature zones to another signer, change signature zones from one signer to another
  3. Save your signature templates
  4. Check this box if you do not want to include the Secure Exchanges signing certificate on your document (some organizations refuse to accept certain documents or forms when the signing certificate is added).
  5. Check this box if you want to use PKI digital signature certificates
  6. Click on this button if you want to use the predefined fields on your pdf document if necessary.
To find out more about each of the options, we invite you to click on the corresponding hypertext link.