Signing a Protected Form

Robert has developed a Word form and protected it for distribution. His users have tablet computers and they want to be able to sign the document with their tablet pens, but the pen does not work on a protected form. Robert is wondering how he can get this to work. He has tried inserting a frame, data field, and even an Excel unprotected cell to hold the signature, but all of these approaches have failed to make the pen work.

The problem is in the protection—if you protect a document or a section of a document, then you can't make changes in the protected portion. So, the answer is to insert section breaks both before and after the signature location. These can be continuous section breaks, so that they don't disturb the layout of your document. Then, make sure that all the document sections except the one for the signature are protected.

If you need help on figuring out how to apply protection only to parts of a document, just do a search on the WordTips Web site for the phrase "Protecting Parts of a Document."