# What is the Difference between Electronic and Digital Signatures? > Electronic signatures or e-signatures is omnipresent in any business transaction workflow. This article explains the differences between electronic and digital signatures. - **Author:** Bjoern Meyer - **Published:** 2022-10-20 - **Modified:** 2025-11-16 - **Description:** Electronic signatures or e-signatures is omnipresent in any business transaction workflow. This article explains the differences between electronic and digital signatures. - **5 min read** (814 words) - **Tags:** - ASP.NET - Angular - Document Viewer - Electronic Signature - **Web URL:** https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2022/10/20/what-is-the-difference-between-electronic-and-digital-signatures/ - **LLMs URL:** https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2022/10/20/what-is-the-difference-between-electronic-and-digital-signatures/llms.txt - **LLMs-Full URL:** https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2022/10/20/what-is-the-difference-between-electronic-and-digital-signatures/llms-full.txt --- Companies and organizations in any industry understand the value of electronic signatures embedded in applications and internal workflows to reduce paper, speed up transactions and to provide a better user experience for signing processes. ### Integrated Electronic Signatures Using document processing libraries from Text Control, modern, secure and reliable electronic signatures can be easily integrated into any application using ASP.NET Core, Angular or desktop applications. Instead of using third-party services such as [DocuSign](https://www.docusign.com/) or [Adobe Sign](https://www.adobe.com/sign.html), many companies would like to embed electronic signature processes in internal enterprise applications or commercial products. ### Electronic? Digital? What is the Difference? TX Text Control supports **electronic signatures** and **digital signatures**. But what is the difference? - **Electronic Signatures**An electronic signature is a simple signature representation that is drawn or uploaded as an image and placed on top of a document. TX Text Control supports two different methods to implement this feature: - **Signature Fields**Pre-defined signature fields can be inserted into documents that can be electronically signed using a signature soft pad. ![Signing documents with TX Text Control](https://s1-www.textcontrol.com/assets/dist/blog/2022/10/20/a/assets/sign1.webp "Signing documents with TX Text Control") - **Signature Annotations**Instead of signing pre-defined fields, signature images can be acquired in order to insert the signature image as an annotation object to the document. ![Signing documents with TX Text Control](https://s1-www.textcontrol.com/assets/dist/blog/2022/10/20/a/assets/sign2.webp "Signing documents with TX Text Control") - **Digital Signatures**A digital signature combines the electronic signature with a digital certificate that identifies the signer. To ensure that a document has not been altered by a third-party and to verify that the author is the expected person, documents can be digitally signed. ![Signing documents with TX Text Control](https://s1-www.textcontrol.com/assets/dist/blog/2022/10/20/a/assets/acrobat.webp "Signing documents with TX Text Control") ### Easy Integration The following code snipped shows how easy it is to sign an added signature field with an SVG image as the visual signature representation. The created digital signature is associated with the signature field before it is exported as an Adobe PDF document. ``` public static void SignFields() { using (ServerTextControl tx = new ServerTextControl()) { tx.Create(); // create a signature field SignatureField signatureField = new SignatureField( new System.Drawing.Size(2000, 2000), "txsign", 10); // set image representation signatureField.Image = new SignatureImage("signature.svg", 0); // insert the field tx.SignatureFields.Add(signatureField, -1); // create a digital signature (for each field, if required) DigitalSignature digitalSignature = new DigitalSignature( new System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X509Certificate2( "textcontrolself.pfx", "123"), null, "txsign"); // apply the signatures to the SaveSettings SaveSettings saveSettings = new SaveSettings() { SignatureFields = new DigitalSignature[] { digitalSignature } }; // export to PDF tx.Save("signed_fields.pdf", StreamType.AdobePDF, saveSettings); } } ``` > **Learn More** > > Requesting signatures is a common application using the TX Text Control document viewer available for ASP.NET, ASP.NET Core and Angular. This article shows a typical workflow how to prepare documents for a signature acquisition. > > [Requesting Electronic Signatures using TX Text Control 31.0 ](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2022/08/18/requesting-electronic-signatures-using-tx-text-control-310/llms-full.txt) ### What is a Digital Signature? A digital signature use the concept of hashing - a mathematical function that converts a block of data into a fixed-size string. The result of this function is always identical for this block of data, if the data block has not been altered. This hash function is used on almost all elements of a document and is then stored inside the document. The two main advantages of a digital signature are: - **Authentication**A digital certificate allows the exact identification of the author of a signed document. - **Integrity**A digital signature can be used to validate whether the contents of the signed document has been altered after the signing process. When signing a document, the digital signature generates a unique hash from the document data and a private key. When verified, the data and a public key is used to generate the same hash. If they match, the document is not altered and the signature is valid. ![Signing documents with TX Text Control](https://s1-www.textcontrol.com/assets/dist/blog/2022/10/20/a/assets/signingprocess.webp "Signing documents with TX Text Control") **Signing process**: Combining data and a private key ### Developer Libraries from Text Control Using the developer libraries from Text Control, the complete electronic signing process can be embedded into any web application with components for ASP.NET, ASP.NET Core with .NET and .NET 7 support, Angular and other JavaScript platforms. Integrate ready-to-use and tested components to deliver intuitive, reliable and safe signature processes to your users. > **Learn More** > > Using TX Text Control, there are two ways of signing PDF documents: The whole document and individual signature fields. This article shows how to implement both ways in a .NET 6 command line application. > > [Digitally Signing Adobe PDF Documents ](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2022/09/15/digitally-signing-adobe-pdf-documents/llms-full.txt) --- ## About Bjoern Meyer As CEO, Bjoern is the visionary behind our strategic direction and business development, bridging the gap between our customers and engineering teams. His deep passion for coding and web technologies drives the creation of innovative products. If you're at a tech conference, be sure to stop by our booth - you'll most likely meet Bjoern in person. With an advanced graduate degree (Dipl. Inf.) in Computer Science, specializing in AI, from the University of Bremen, Bjoern brings significant expertise to his role. In his spare time, Bjoern enjoys running, paragliding, mountain biking, and playing the piano. - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bjoernmeyer/) - [X](https://x.com/txbjoern) - [GitHub](https://github.com/bjoerntx) --- ## Related Posts - [Building an ASP.NET Core Backend (Linux and Windows) for the Document Editor and Viewer](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2025/03/26/building-an-asp-net-core-backend-for-the-document-editor-and-viewer/llms.txt) - [Transforming Financial Documents into Smart and Secure Forms in ASP.NET Core C#](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2024/05/01/transforming-financial-documents-into-smart-and-secure-forms-in-asp-net-core-c-sharp/llms.txt) - [How to Add Electronic and Digital Signatures to PDFs in ASP.NET Core C# and Angular](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2024/03/20/how-to-add-electronic-and-digital-signatures-to-pdfs-in-asp-net-core-c-sharp-and-angular/llms.txt) - [Building an ASP.NET Core Backend Application to Host the Document Editor and Document Viewer](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2024/03/14/building-an-asp-net-core-backend-application-to-host-the-document-editor-and-document-viewer/llms.txt) - [Customizing Electronic Signature Fonts for Typed Signatures in Angular and ASP.NET Core](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2024/03/11/customizing-electronic-signature-fonts-for-typed-signatures-in-angular-and-asp-net-core/llms.txt) - [Handling Electronic Signatures in a Blazor Web App using .NET 8](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2024/02/06/handling-electronic-signatures-in-a-blazor-web-app-using-net-8/llms.txt) - [Preview: PDF.js Support for Form Fields, Selections and Annotations](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2023/04/18/preview-pdfjs-support-for-form-fields-selections-and-annotations/llms.txt) - [Merging Signature Annotations into Documents](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2022/10/19/merging-signature-annotations-into-documents/llms.txt) - [Document Viewer: Uploading Signatures](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2022/02/24/document-viewer-uploading-signatures/llms.txt) - [Electronic Signatures: Document Audit Trails](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2021/10/14/electronic-signatures-document-audit-trails/llms.txt) - [Combine Form Fields, Merge Fields and Signature Boxes to Request Signatures](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2021/10/12/combine-form-fields-merge-fields-and-signature-boxes-to-request-signatures/llms.txt) - [eSign Demo: Requesting Signatures from Multiple Signers](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2021/10/07/esign-demo-requesting-signatures-from-multiple-signers/llms.txt) - [Text Control eSign Demo: Automate Agreement Preparation](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2021/09/14/text-control-esign-demo-automate-agreement-preparation/llms.txt) - [Electronic Signatures: Sequentially Sign Documents with Multiple Signers](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2021/08/26/sequentially-sign-documents-with-multiple-signers/llms.txt) - [Digital Document Transformation: Automated E-Invoicing in C#](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2021/08/25/digital-document-transformation-automated-e-invoicing-in-csharp/llms.txt) - [Creation of Custom Electronic Signature Boxes](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2021/06/15/creation-of-custom-electronic-signature-boxes/llms.txt) - [Collaboration: New Annotations Sample](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2021/05/05/collaboration-new-annotations-sample/llms.txt) - [Using Multiple Electronic Signatures on a Document](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2019/10/23/using-multiple-electronic-signatures/llms.txt) - [High-Performance Text Replacement in Large DOCX Files using C# .NET](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2025/07/30/high-performance-text-replacement-in-large-docx-files-using-csharp-dotnet/llms.txt) - [Document Viewer 33.2.1 Released: New Event and Bug Fixes](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2025/07/30/document-viewer-33-2-1-released-new-event-and-bug-fixes/llms.txt) - [E-Sign Comes to Blazor: Document Viewer 33.0.1 Released](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2025/04/24/e-sign-comes-to-blazor-document-viewer-33-0-1-released/llms.txt) - [Adoption of Electronic vs. Paper Signatures in 2025](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2025/04/15/adoption-of-electronic-vs-paper-signatures-in-2025/llms.txt) - [TX Text Control Document Editor and Viewer for Blazor Released](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2025/03/25/tx-text-control-document-editor-and-viewer-for-blazor-released/llms.txt) - [Getting Started: Document Viewer for Blazor in ASP.NET Core](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2025/03/25/getting-started-document-viewer-for-blazor-in-asp-net-core/llms.txt) - [Getting Started: Document Viewer Version 33.0 with Angular CLI 19.0](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2025/03/18/getting-started-document-viewer-version-33-0-with-angular-cli-19-0/llms.txt)