Download Sceau

What Sceau does

Sceau signs a PDF with the chip of your eID card and your PIN. The card uses its signing key, linked to a qualified certificate: it is a qualified electronic signature, with the same legal effect as a handwritten signature throughout the European Union (eIDAS Regulation, Article 25). Any PDF reader that checks signatures (Adobe Acrobat Reader, for example) can verify it. Sceau adds a visible seal: your name, the chosen mention (« Agreed », « Read and approved », with or without reservations) and a QR code. Your document never leaves your computer: you send it to the recipient yourself. If you choose to, Sceau publishes a seal page on this site (name, mention, type of reservation, date) that the QR code leads to.

What has no legal value

The demonstration key; the public page of a seal, whose information (name, mention) is declared by the signer and not verified by this site; and this site's « Check a signed PDF », which checks that the document has not changed but is not an official validation (for that: the European Union's validator or Adobe Acrobat Reader). Also note: Sceau adds no qualified timestamp, the date shown comes from your computer. Sceau gives no legal advice: if something important is at stake, consult a professional.

Downloads – version 1.1.0

The installers are not signed by Apple or Microsoft (that costs money): your system will show a warning the first time you open Sceau. Only download Sceau from this page, and first check that the file's SHA-256 fingerprint matches the one shown: on macOS « shasum -a 256 file », on Windows « certutil -hashfile file SHA256 », on Linux « sha256sum file ».

Downloading and using Sceau means accepting its terms of use. Terms of use and legal notice

How to use Sceau with your eID card

What you need

Your Belgian identity card (eID) and its PIN; a card reader (USB, or built into the computer); a computer running macOS, Windows or Linux.

1. Install the official eID software

Download it free from eid.belgium.be (FPS BOSA), install it, connect the reader and insert your card. To check that everything works, open the « eID Viewer » installed with it: it must show your card. Sceau needs this software to talk to the card; it does not include it.

2. Install Sceau

macOS: open the .dmg and drag Sceau into Applications. The first time, macOS refuses an unsigned app: open System Settings, Privacy & Security, then « Open Anyway ». Windows: run the .msi; if SmartScreen appears, click « More info » then « Run anyway ». Linux: « sudo apt install ./sceau_…_amd64.deb ».

3. Prepare the document

Open Sceau, then your PDF. Choose the mention (« Agreed », « Read and approved »…) and any reservations: they are added to the document as an appendix and signed with it. Click on the page to place the seal and adjust its size. You can put your own armorial drawing in it.

4. Sign with the card

Choose « eID card », decide whether the seal should be published on this site and for how long, then click « Sign » and choose where to save the signed PDF. Type your PIN when asked (in Sceau or in a window of the eID software). Sceau uses the card's « signature » key, never the authentication key. It immediately checks the signed PDF and shows the result. The date and time of the signature are certified by the Belgian State's qualified timestamping service (BOSA): you therefore need an internet connection when signing.

Good to know: a PDF signed with the card contains your certificate, which includes your national register number. Anyone who receives the document can read it. Sceau itself never displays, stores or publishes it. Three wrong PINs block the card: you then need the PUK code, to be requested from your municipality.

5. Send it and have it checked

Send the signed PDF yourself (email, USB stick…). The recipient can scan the seal's QR code to open the seal page, drop the PDF on « Check a signed PDF » on this site to make sure it was not modified, or open the Signatures panel of Adobe Acrobat Reader.

6. Withdraw a seal page

In Sceau, « Withdraw from the verification page » deletes the page at once: Sceau kept this seal's secret withdrawal code on your computer. Without that code (another computer, reinstallation), write to the contact at the bottom of the page. The signed PDF remains valid.

Without a card, or to try it out: choose « Demonstration key ». The result is marked as a demonstration and has no value as a signature.

Troubleshooting

« eID software not found »: install or reinstall the eID software (step 1), then restart Sceau. Card not read: reconnect the reader and check with the eID Viewer. On Linux, the smart card service (pcscd) must be running.

Component licences

Sceau is free of charge but not free software (see the terms). It includes free components, among them the European Commission's DSS signature library under the LGPL 2.1 licence: you may replace it with your own version in the app's folder. The LGPL text and the DSS source code can be downloaded below; the full list of components and their licences is in the THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES file shipped with the app.

  • LGPL-2.1.txt
    SHA-256 fingerprint: 20e50fe7aae3e56378ebf0417d9de904f55a0e61e4df315333e632a4d3555d95
  • dss-sources-1.1.0.zip
    SHA-256 fingerprint: 6ff562936dac5678adf0e16debd38fa38ea1e4f5ca652a522fe4c0d71a189303