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Order your document signing certificate

Use these instructions to order your DigiCert Document Signing certificate: Document Signing – Organization (2000 and 5000) and Document Signing – Individual (500 and 2000).

Before you begin

Prevalidate organization

Make sure the organization you want to associate your document signing certificate with has been validated for document signing. See Submit an organization for prevalidation.

What type of certificate do you need: organization or individual?

DigiCert offers two types of documenting certificates:

  • Document Signing – Organization (2000 or 5000)

    With these certificates, your organization appears as the signature, you can add your name or the organization as the common name, and you can get one with 2000 or 5000 signatures.

  • Document Signing – Individual (500 or 2000)

    With these certificates, your name appears as the signature, and you can get one with 500 or 2000 signatures.

Hardware token

Before you can sign documents with your document signing certificate, you must install it on a hardware token.

You can get a DigiCert token, or you can provide your own:

  • Preconfigured Hardware Token

    DigiCert installs your Document Signing certificate onto a secure hardware token and ships the token to you.

  • Use Existing Qualified Token

    If you already own a qualified hardware token, you can download the DigiCert Document Signing certificate provisioning application and use it to install the certificate onto your token.

Qualified tokens

Hardware tokens must be FIPS 140-2 Level 2 or Common Criteria EAL4+.

  • SafeNet eToken 5110+ FIPS

  • SafeNet eToken 5110 CC

  • SafeNet IDPrime 930

  • ePass3003

  • SafeNet eToken 5110 FIPS

  • SafeNet eToken 5110

  • SafeNet iKey 4000

  • SafeNet eToken 5205

  • SafeNet eToken 5200

  • SafeNet eToken 5105

  • SafeNet eToken 5100

  • SafeNet eToken PRO 72K

  • SafeNet eToken PRO Anywhere

Order your document signing certificate

  1. In the left main menu, hover over Request a Certificate. Under Document Signing Certificates, select the certificate that fits your needs.

  2. Assign the request to a division

    In the For dropdown, select the division to manage the certificate. This dropdown only appears if your account uses Divisions.

  3. Organization

    In the dropdown, select the organization you want to include on the certificate. If you choose an unvalidated organization, DigiCert must validate the organization for document signing validation before we can issue your certificate.

    The selected organization may appear as the signature for Document Signing – Organization certificates if the Organization's Name is selected as the common name for the certificate. In the Subject information section below, see Common Name.

  4. Signature Hash

    Unless you have a specific reason for choosing a different signature hash, DigiCert recommends using the default signature hash: SHA-256.

  5. Validity period

    Select a validity period for your certificate: 1 year, 2 years, or 3 years.

  6. Provisioning Options

    • Preconfigured Hardware Token

      DigiCert installs your document signing certificate on a secure token and ships it to you with instructions on activating it.

      Under Shipping Information, select a Shipping Method (Standard or Expedited). Then, add your shipping information: your name and the address where you want us to send the token.

    • Use Existing Token

      After DigiCert issues your document signing certificate, install the certificate on your token. You can only install the certificate on an approved hardware token listed in the Platform dropdown.

      Under Token Platform, in the Platform dropdown, select the type of hardware token you plan to install your certificate on.

      Don't have an approved token?

      Select Preconfigured Hardware Token. Contact DigiCert Support if you have any questions.

  7. Subject information

    1. Person's Full Name

      Enter the full name of the person who will manage and use the certificate to sign documents.

    2. Common Name

      Select the name you want to include as the common name on your document signing certificate:

      • Certificate Owner's Name

      • Organization's Name

      This option does not appear on the Document Signing – Individual certificate request form.

    3. Enter the phone number and job title of the person who will manage and use the certificate to sign documents.

  8. Payment Information

    1. Select Payment Method

      Select a payment method to pay for the certificate:

      • Bill to Credit Card

        Use a credit card to pay for the certificate.

        We authorize the card when the request is made. However, we only complete the transaction once we issue your certificate.

        If you have a contract enabled, check Exclude from contract terms.

      • Bill to Account Balance

        Bill the cost to your account balance.

        To deposit funds, select the Deposit link. This link takes you to another page inside your CertCentral account. Any information entered in the request form will not be saved.

        If you have a contract enabled, check Exclude from contract terms.

      • Pay with Contract Terms

        When you have a contract, it is the default payment method.

  9. Master Services Agreement

    Select the Master Services Agreement link to read through the agreement.

  10. Select Submit Certificate Request.

    Selecting Submit Certificate Request also means you agree to all the terms and conditions in the Master Services Agreement.

What's next

Complete organization validation

Before DigiCert can issue your certificate, we need to validate your authority to order a certificate for the organization on your document signing certificate.

A validation agent will call a verified phone number to speak with someone who represents you (the certificate requestor) and can confirm your authority: Human resources, Manager, or Technical contact.

To complete the organization consent for your certificate order:

  • Answer the organization validation phone call (preferred method)

    After submitting your certificate order, ensure the organization contact, technical contact, and company receptionist know you ordered a document signing certificate. Tell them that DigiCert will call a verified phone number to speak with one of them to ensure you have permission to request this certificate. This call usually takes place within 24 hours of the order being placed.

  • Respond to the organization consent message

    If the DigiCert validation agent can't reach someone representing you at the verified phone number, they will leave a message. This message includes a callback phone number and a verification code. Make sure that the organization or technical contact responds to the message and provides the verification code.

  • Schedule a time for a call back through the verified phone number

    If the DigiCert validation agent can't reach someone who represents you at the verified phone number, they may email you to schedule a time for us to call back to complete the verification.

Certificate issuance

Once the validation process is complete, we will issue your certificate.

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