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FalsiScan: Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

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Re: FalsiScan: Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

#121

Post by andrewmunsell »

halpert wrote: post #107
andrewmunsell wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always use Preview to "sign" documents due to a lack of a scanner, but I've found in some cases, companies refuse to accept the document because they think it's not actually printed, signed with a pen, and then scanned... Tools like this will skew and degrade the image in a similar way to a scanner so that it fits this ridiculous requirement

Have you tried signing a piece of paper with a pen and using Preview’s signature scan feature? It creates a very realistic looking signature in my opinion.

Yep, that is what I use. The signature itself looks completely handwritten (because it is), but the companies in question complain that it can't possibly be a handwritten signature because the document didn't look printed and scanned (???). It's slightly ridiculous, but not much I could do other than find a scanner/printer or "comply" with their document formatting requirement

Re: FalsiScan: Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

#122

Post by function_seven »

xur17 wrote: post #89
tombert wrote: post #32

I really hate dealing with my printer (or any printer for that matter), so I make pretty liberal use of my drawing tablet at this point. I import the PDF into Krita, use the ballpoint pen brush, and sign. I export to PNG, then use an imagemagick script to rotate it some random number between 1-3 degrees, and add noise onto it to look like a scan. It's a pain, but it's still less annoying than dealing with a printer.

I have a png of my signature, and I just paste it into the pdf, and submit that. Haven't run into a complaint yet, and I don't have to print anything.

Just a couple months ago I had a couple of forms rejected with a note “needs wet signature”

They were for a 401(k) plan I was updating RMD choices. I got the PDF form from their site, filled it out in Preview, pasted my signature PNG, and used an app on my phone to fax it(!) to their number.

Got rejected. Had to actually print the damn things and sign them with a pen, scan them again with my phone’s camera, and re-fax them.

Was mildly infuriating.

Re: FalsiScan: Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

#123

Post by NovemberWhiskey »

dheera wrote: post #113
cpitman wrote: post #95

I had another version of this at the DMV. They needed to see bills that offered proof of my residence (ie power/water/etc). Turns out they wanted them to be mailed to you, which wasn't going to work because I do paperless billing for everything. So I printed them out and tri-folded them as if it had been in an envelope. People in front of me in line got turned away for using printed bills, but mine worked just fine.

Love this. Also why does the DMV need a proof of residence? What if you live in a van?

The DMV typically needs a proof of residency because you're only allowed to have one state license - the one for the state of which you're a resident.

Re: FalsiScan: Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

#124

Post by devwastaken »

cpitman wrote: post #95

I had another version of this at the DMV. They needed to see bills that offered proof of my residence (ie power/water/etc). Turns out they wanted them to be mailed to you, which wasn't going to work because I do paperless billing for everything. So I printed them out and tri-folded them as if it had been in an envelope. People in front of me in line got turned away for using printed bills, but mine worked just fine.

Yes, they also do this for ID's, and for voter ID's. It's specifically created to prevent people whom don't have only 1 permanent address,with paper billing, being able to live their daily lives. I had to go to a local county courthouse 4 times to get a "realid" and to renew a driver's license. I had to call all sorts of people to get printed statements sent to me. It's incredibly ridiculous, I would call it completely contrary to the ethos of the United States, even. That as a citizen with all these forms of ID I still cannot readily operate as a citizen in my own country.

Re: FalsiScan: Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

#125

Post by kayodelycaon »

dheera wrote: post #113
cpitman wrote: post #95

I had another version of this at the DMV. They needed to see bills that offered proof of my residence (ie power/water/etc). Turns out they wanted them to be mailed to you, which wasn't going to work because I do paperless billing for everything. So I printed them out and tri-folded them as if it had been in an envelope. People in front of me in line got turned away for using printed bills, but mine worked just fine.

Love this. Also why does the DMV need a proof of residence? What if you live in a van?

In the states I've lived in, licenses and ids required proof of residency. If you can't prove you live in the state, you're not getting one.

Re: FalsiScan: Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

#126

Post by teagoat »

tombert wrote: post #93
xur17 wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a png of my signature, and I just paste it into the pdf, and submit that. Haven't run into a complaint yet, and I don't have to print anything.

I should probably do that. I've always hesitated because the paranoid part of me thinks they'll catch on to it being digital if I have to sign in ten different places and they see that the signature is literally identical for each one. My Krita solution, while annoying, allows for me to have a slightly different signature for each one, for each form I sign, allowing it to pass all but the most judicious level of fore…

I do the same. I just have one saved. No one has ever complained, even when it's blatantly obvious that I didn't sign it by hand.

I figure even if they do complain, it doesn't matter. Its not like I don't have permission to do what I want with my own signature. The worst might be that they come back and say "sign it properly please" and then I have to go through the effort of printing it out and scanning it back in.

Re: FalsiScan: Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

#127

Post by lelandfe »

wolfhumble wrote: post #64
rootusrootus wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Preview has to be one of the most under-appreciated apps on MacOS. It implements so much handy everyday functionality that requires third-party software on Windows. Or did, last time I used Windows (admittedly some time ago).

Yes, really. I use it all the time. On feature that I use a lot in Preview is to combine pdf's. If you e.g. have a pdf invoice and want to combine that with the corresponding pdf receipt from the bank, I just open the two pdf files side by side in thumbnail view and just drag the pages (thumbnails) I want from one document to the other where I want to place them; rearranging the pages (thumbnails) later if I need to…

Recently learned about Ghostscript and man, it does PDF manipulation really fast. If you find yourself merging PDFs a lot, here you are:

    gs -q -sDEVICE=pdfwrite -o merged.pdf tobemerged1.pdf tobemerged2.pdf tobemerged3.pdf
Ghostscript is similar to ImageMagick in that it does so much that learning to do one specific thing is hard. But that line merged ~300MB of PDFs together in 20s on my M1. Doing that in Preview causes a beach ball.

I installed it with Homebrew, but the project home is yonder: https://www.ghostscript.com/

Re: FalsiScan: Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

#128

Post by Shared404 »

mdavis6890 wrote: post #120
dheera wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Love this. Also why does the DMV need a proof of residence? What if you live in a van?

In many places your driver license is used as authoritative identification for many other things, and the assumption is that those things require this additional verification. I don't know, but I think registering to vote might be one of these things in some places (it's been a while since I registered).

Side note: Why don't we have national ID in the US?

I know many people don't want us to risk becoming a "show your papers" country, but A) We already kinda are (ever been pulled over?), and B) It just makes more sense to have something like ID be centralized, preferably with a much better model then SSN's.

Re: FalsiScan: Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

#129

Post by GuB-42 »

baxtr wrote: post #109

What's the thing with the Penises in the readme and example pdf? Is this a joke?

Because the author is a child, and so am I, so I approve.

Ah yes, all of it is a joke, the example text is too. Which is fitting for the problem it is intended to solve.

Re: FalsiScan: Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

#130

Post by koliber »

heydonovan wrote: post #71

I hate PDF's with a passion. Not once have I ever wanted to use one. All the pinching and zooming, such a waste of time. I'm giving this a shot next time I need one, the whole scanner thing needs to go. Are we stuck in the 90's? Just bought another rental and it was an ordeal trying to find a scanner. Tried the college near me, was denied as you have to be a student. The library is closed down apparently. FedEx didn'…

Smart phone scanning apps are incredible. I’ve ditched a flatbed years ago and solely rely on my iPhone. It works like magic. The quality is good-to-great, and it fits well with my workflow. Worth the ten bucks or so investment.
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