Inspect PDF Signatures and Compliance

A signature object is not the same as a trusted signature decision. PSWriteOffice can expose signature structure and prepare or apply external signatures, but the surrounding workflow still owns trust stores, certificate policy, signer identity, timestamps, and acceptance rules.

Inspect before rewriting

Use Get-OfficePdfSignature, Get-OfficePdfCompliance, Get-OfficePdfDiagnostic, and Get-OfficePdfPreflight to collect evidence. Test-OfficePdfRewrite helps assess whether a transformed candidate preserved the required document features.

External signing flow

New-OfficePdfSignature prepares a signature placeholder and report. An external signing system produces the signature payload. Set-OfficePdfSignature applies that payload to the prepared file. Keep the exact prepared artifact and signing report together; changing the PDF between those steps invalidates the byte ranges.

For PDF/A, PDF/UA, electronic invoice, or other compliance workflows, inspect the specific compliance report and diagnostics relevant to the required standard. A readable PDF is not automatically compliant, accessible, or signature-preserving.

Start with read and preflight and keep every transformation in a new output path so the evidence chain remains clear.