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How to Add Date and Digital Signature Fields to
a Portable Document Format (PDF) File
Date Field
In Adobe Acrobat Pro DC, open the PDF.
Click the Tools tab and under Prepare Form, click Open.
At the screen stating: “Select a file or scan a document to begin” Adobe should already
display the file you have opened in Step 1. If you need to change the file, then click on
“Change File” and browse to the correct file.
a. Do not check the box next to: “This document requires signatures” (it changes which
signature field options are available).
b. Recommendation: Change the Form Field auto detection to OFF by clicking
“Change” and unchecking the last box in General for: “Automatically detect form
fields,” especially if the files you are adding the digital signature field to are not
forms. If you choose to keep the “Form field auto detection is ON” you may get form
fields detected in error. If this happens, click on the fields you do not need and delete
them. Do not leave fields that you do not need in the file because this will affect
accessibility and compliance with Section 508.
c. You may get a message: “No form fields detected.” This is fine, especially if the
document is correspondence or the file is not a “form.”
Click Start.
On the Prepare Form ribbon over the top of the document, click the icon for Add a date
field.