Why a signed PDF shows several signatures
Each signer signs their own revision. Your reader saying a signature 'covers an earlier version' is correct behaviour, not a problem.
Open a finished envelope that used Aadhaar eSign in Adobe Acrobat and you'll see more than one signature listed — one per Aadhaar signer, plus the SignSpry platform seal on top.
You may also see a note against the earlier ones saying the signature covers an earlier version of the document. That is correct, and it is what you want.
Why it works this way
A digital signature commits to a precise sequence of bytes. If those bytes change afterwards, the signature stops verifying — that is the entire point of it.
So when a second person signs, we cannot rewrite the file. Instead every change after the first signature is appended as a new revision, leaving everything before it untouched, byte for byte:
- Signer one's marks are drawn on.
- Signer one signs. Their signature covers everything so far.
- Signer two's marks are appended as a new revision.
- Signer two signs. Their signature covers that.
- The Certificate of Completion is appended.
- The SignSpry seal goes on top, covering the whole file.
Signer one's signature still verifies perfectly over the revision they actually saw and agreed to. It does not — and should not — claim to cover pages that were added afterwards.
This is standard PDF behaviour and how every multi-party digitally signed document works. A reader that showed all signatures as covering the final file would be lying to you.
Reading it correctly
| What the reader says | What it means |
|---|---|
| Signature is valid, covers an earlier revision | Normal. That signer signed that version. |
| Signature is valid, covers the whole document | The outermost signature — usually our seal. |
| Document has been altered or corrupted | Something is wrong. Verify it on our Verify page and contact support. |
You can view each revision in Acrobat's signature panel to see exactly what a given signer was looking at.
Ordinary envelopes
An envelope with no Aadhaar signatures is assembled once at the end and carries a single seal. Both models produce a sealed, verifiable document; the multi-signature one additionally binds each signer's own certificate.
See How sealing works and The audit trail.