A signature may or may not include referenced models.

The user determines if the signature includes referenced content. If live nesting is turned on when creating the signature, nested references are also included in the signature. A reference and its children are only included in the signature if the attachment is marked for display.

Signatures of both model and file scope can be marked to include references. When a model signature includes references, only the references attached to that model are included. When a file signature includes references, all references attached to all models are included. The "biggest" signature is a signature of a file and all of its references.

• Reference attachment data included — A signature always includes reference attachment data, such as reference origin, scale, rotation, and clip boundary regardless of whether or not referenced content is included in the signature.
• DWG reference included — A reference to a DWG model can be included in a signature.
• Signatures not restricted by clip boundaries — When a reference is included in a signature, the signature captures its entire contents regardless of the clip boundary.
• Signatures in references — A signature placed in the master file may depend on a signature in a reference. The Digital Signatures dialog displays all signatures in references.
• Status display of signatures in references — If a reference has signatures, they are displayed in the view and in the Digital Signatures dialog. A red seal displays in the status area indicating there is a signature on the active file. However, this area remains blank if the active file has no signatures but there are signatures on the references. The Digital Signatures dialog lists all signatures in all references, regardless of whether or not the active file has any signatures. Checking the Digital Signatures dialog is much more accurate than the status bar.