Signing Briefcases

You can sign briefcases when you export them. Signing a briefcase will embed your signature's certificate chain in the briefcase along with the other briefcase information. This will allow users who receive and import the briefcase to verify the user that signed the document and to determine whether the briefcase was modified after it was exported and signed. When the briefcase is imported into another repository that supports digital signatures, the signature will be validated and the user performing the import can view the signature information before completing the briefcase import.

Signing a briefcase upon export does not sign the documents within that briefcase. The signature is applied to the briefcase as a whole; once the briefcase has been imported, the documents in that briefcase will not contain that signature. (However, if the documents were signed before being exported, and digital signatures were included in the briefcase, the documents will retain their own original signatures.)

For more information about digital signatures, see Digital Signatures.

Note: To sign a briefcase, you must have a valid signing certificate in the personal section of your local certificate store in Windows. Your administrator may have already distributed a valid signing certificate to your computer for use when signing documents. If you are not sure how to determine whether you have a valid signing certificate, or to acquire one if you do not, contact your administrator for assistance. 

Note: Signatures on briefcases cannot be countersigned.

Special Considerations in the Laserfiche Web Client

Signing briefcases through the Laserfiche web client requires the Laserfiche Signing Plug-in. If the plug-in is not currently installed on your computer, the Laserfiche web client will display a dialog box that allows you to download and install it.

Signing a Briefcase

To sign a briefcase in the Windows client 

  1. Select one or more entries and export them as a briefcase. See Briefcasing Your Documents for more information.
  2. When exporting your briefcase, select Sign briefcase during export. The Sign Briefcase dialog box will open.
  3. Optional: In Signing Image, click Select, navigate to the signing image you want to use, and click Open. You can specify any .bmp, .jpg, .png or .tif image file.
  4. In Signing Certificate , click Select and choose your signing certificate. To view the details for your selected certificate, click Details.
  5. Optional: In the Signing Reason option, type your reason for signing this document.
  6. Click Sign.
  7. Continue with the briefcasing process.

To sign a briefcase in the web client 

  1. Select one or more entries and export them as a briefcase. See Briefcasing Your Documents for more information.
  2. When exporting your briefcase, select Sign the briefcase after exporting.
  3. If the Laserfiche Signing Plug-in is not installed, you will see the Install Laserfiche Signing Plug-in dialog box. Click the Download Laserfiche Signing Plug-in button in the center of the dialog to install it. Depending on your browser security settings, you may be prompted to verify if you want to download the installer. If the downloaded file does not open automatically, open the downloaded file to load the installer.
  4. You may be prompted to confirm that the plug-in should be permitted to contact the Laserfiche web client. If so, allow it to do so.
  5. The Sign Briefcase dialog box will open.
  6. Optional: In Image, click Upload, navigate to the signing image you want to use, and click Open. You can specify any .bmp, .jpg, .png or .tif image file.
  7. In Certificate , click Select and choose your signing certificate. To view the details for your selected certificate, click Details.
  8. Optional: In the Reason option, type your reason for signing this document.
  9. Click Sign.
  10. Continue with the briefcasing process.

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