Format for the digital signature

If an electronic signature is used in ASA-AMOffice© to sign forms and reports, it should be available as a PNG or GIF file with a transparent background. After scanning or photographing, however, it most likely still has the white background from the paper. This can be removed with various image editing programs. In this FAQ a solution with Paint.net is described, since it is free and relatively easy to use.


Download Paint.net

If Paint.net is not already installed on your system, you can download it here.


Adjust aspect ratio

Now open the signature in Paint.net. This should at least have a width-to-height ratio of about 4 to 1 so that it does not look unnaturally compressed or stretched later on forms and reports. If this is not the case, this can also be fixed with Paint.net. To do this, use the rectangular selection to mark your signature and copy it. Then click File and New. A window opens in which you can set the width and height, among other things. Since you have your signature on the clipboard, the width and height will automatically be set to this. Now you should set the width to four times the value of the height (make sure that the Maintain aspect ratio checkbox is not checked) and confirm with OK. You now have to paste your signature to the opened file.


Remove background

Now the signature is in the correct format and only the background needs to be removed. To do this, select the magic wand tool and click on the white background.

If the magic wand marked parts of your signature, you can gradually lower the tolerance. If too little has been selected, you can increase the tolerance or add more parts to the selection with Ctrl + mouse click. This is also helpful for letters with spaces such as O, A, Q etc., for example.

As soon as the background has been marked sufficiently, you can delete it with the scissors in the function bar or with Delete. A signature with a transparent background remains


Save file

Now all you have to do is save the file. You do this by clicking File and Save As. A save dialog opens in which you can select the location, the name and the file type. Name and location are freely selectable, you must select PNG (*.png) or GIF (*.gif) in the file type. Now you can save the file and insert it into ASA-AMOffice© as a signature file.


Last edit: 2022-07-08 14:24

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