Establish Trust with a Root Certificate in Adobe

Audience: Everyone

The short answer: If Adobe is showing a warning or missing the green checkmark on a Proof-notarized document, you need to manually install a root certificate file in Adobe Reader or Acrobat. This one-time setup tells Adobe to trust certificates issued by Proof or IdenTrust.

If your document is missing the green checkmark in Adobe or you're receiving an error message (such as "At least one signature has problems"), this does not mean the integrity of tamper sealing by Proof is compromised. It simply means the document was notarized by a notary without a Proof Digital Certificate. The steps below should resolve the issue.

Once completed, you can verify the digital certificate for a notarized document.

How It Works

Adobe has a stringent requirement called the Adobe Approved Trusted List (AATL), which allows Certificate Authority vendors and partners to become trusted by default. Proof used IdenTrust, which is part of AATL; however, certificates issued to individual notaries are not necessarily included in the AATL program.

Documents completed on the Proof platform use a root certificate from either Proof.com or IdenTrust. For a relying party (e.g., county clerk, courthouse, state agency) to confirm that a root certificate is valid, they must first install a file in their Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat desktop software. This file creates a trust relationship between Adobe and the root certificate, allowing Adobe to display the green checkmark when the digital certificate is valid.

Adobe Reader and Acrobat require a one-time trusting of root certificates on the computer used to view the files. This can be accomplished by installing the files provided in the Attachments section below.

Establish Trust with Adobe

Follow both processes below to establish trust with Adobe for documents completed on the Proof platform.

+ Proof Digital Certificate
  1. Download the proof-root-ca-r1.crt file at the bottom of this article.
  2. Open Adobe preferences.
    adobe acrobat preferences establish trust.png
  3. Click Signatures.
    adobe acrobat signatures.png
  4. Click More under the Identities & Trusted Certificates section.
  5. Click Trusted Certificates.
  6. Click Import.
    adobe acrobat root establish trust.jpg
  7. Click Browse.
    adobe acrobat establish trust browse.jpg
  8. Find and select the proof-root-ca-r1.crt file from your local drive and click Open.
  9. Select the Proof Root CA 1 contact under Contacts.
  10. Select the Proof Root CA 1 certificate under Certificates.
    establish trust proof digital certificate contacts import.png
  11. Click Trust.
    establish trust proof digital certificate button.png
  12. Check the box next to Use this certificate as a trusted root.
    proof digital certificate trusted root establish.png
  13. Click OK.
  14. Click Import.
+ IdenTrust Root Certificate
  1. Download the igcdeviceca2fullchain_0.p7b file at the bottom of this article.
  2. Open Adobe Preferences.
    adobe acrobat preferences establish trust.png
  3. Click Signatures.
    adobe acrobat signatures.png
  4. Click More under the Identities & Trusted Certificates section.
  5. Click Trusted Certificates.
  6. Click Import.
    adobe acrobat root establish trust.jpg
  7. Click Browse.
    adobe acrobat establish trust browse.jpg
  8. Find and select the file igcdeviceca2fullchain_0.p7b from your local drive and click Open.
  9. Select the first IdenTrust Global Common Root CA 1 contact under Contacts.
  10. Select the IdenTrust Global Common Root CA 1 certificate under Certificates.
  11. Click Trust.
    adobe acrobat root certificate import contacts.jpg
  12. Check the box next to Use this certificate as a trusted root.
    adobe acrobat root establish trust checkbox.jpg
  13. Click OK.
  14. Repeat steps 6–9 for the second IdenTrust Global Common Root CA 1 contact.
    adobe acrobat root trust second contact.png
  15. Click Import.

Once both processes are completed, you can verify the digital certificate for a notarized document.

Summary Checklist

  • Downloaded the correct root certificate file(s) from the Attachments section.
  • Opened Adobe preferences and navigated to Signatures → Identities & Trusted Certificates.
  • Imported the certificate file and selected the correct contact and certificate.
  • Checked "Use this certificate as a trusted root" and clicked OK and Import to confirm.

Attachments

Still Unsure?

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