Get Started with a Digital Signature in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows

A digital signature or ID is more commonly known as a digital certificate. Digital IDs help to validate your identity, and they can be used to sign important documents including PowerPoint presentations. Digital certificates are typically issued by a Certificate Authority (CA), which is a trusted third-party entity that issues digital certificates for use by other parties. You can also purchase a digital certificate from many commercial third-party certificate authorities or obtain a free digital certificate. There are many institutions, governments, and corporations that can also issue their own digital certificates.

As far as PowerPoint is concerned, a digital certificate is necessary for a digital signature because it provides the key that be used for authentication. Digital certificates make it possible for digital signatures to be used to authenticate digital information. In subsequent tutorials of this series, we will explore how you can acquire a digital certificate or create your own digital signature.

Follow these steps to add a digital signature in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows:

1. Launch PowerPoint, and open any existing presentation that you want to add a digital signature to. If you made any changes to your slides, do save your presentation before you proceed further.
2. Access the File tab to bring up Backstage view, and choose the Info Pane option, as shown in Figure 1, below. Thereafter, select the Protect Presentation option to bring up a small drop-down menu, as shown in Figure 1. From the drop-down menu select the Add a Digital Signature option, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 1.
3. 
   Figure 1: Add a Digital Signature option selected within the Protect Presentation drop-down menu
3. Doing so opens a message window, as shown in Figure 2, below.
4. 
   Figure 2: PowerPoint message window
5. The message windows provides you with two buttons: Signature Service from the Office Marketplace and OK. Clicking the Signature Service from the Office Marketplace button opens a web page, as shown in Figure 3, below. Here you can find services that issue digital IDs for your use, or services that complement the 2007/2010 Microsoft Office system and use digital IDs. You can check out the services listed on this web page, and choose any service based on your requirement and budget.
6. 
   Figure 3: Web page showing a list of services for digital IDs

Microsoft Office 2020 or 2007?

Although the web page lists the services that complement the 2007 Microsoft Office system, the same list works for Microsoft Office 2010 as well.
4. Clicking the OK button within the PowerPoint message window, as shown in Figure 2, opens the Get a Digital ID dialog box, as shown in Figure 4, below. Within this dialog box you'll get two options: Get a digital ID from a Microsoft partner, and Create your own digital ID.
5. 
   Figure 4: Get a Digital ID dialog box