Method for applying a physical seal authorization to documents in electronic workflows

摘要

A system and method for applying a pre-existing physical seal authorization to documents provides for authentication of electronic documents using physical seals and without interrupting the electronic workflow. The system of the present invention includes a seal capture device coupled to a computer, and the computer coupled by a network to a paper-like document server. The seal capture device detects depression of a seal thereon and outputs the image of the seal and other metadata to the computer. The computer stores the metadata in its local log using a logging module. The computer also adds the image of the seal and other metadata to the electronic document being displayed. Finally, the computer sends the metadata for storage in the global log of the paper-like document server, and the authorized document to the next step in the electronic workflow. The paper-like document server stores the metadata in other servers or entangles the global log with the logs of other servers for additional security.