Obtaining an electronic signature is an easy and fast way to obtain legal signatures online. With just a few clicks, your document will be sent out to necessary recipients. This article will introduce the basic steps on how to prepare and request an electronic signature using SignTime.
Request an Electronic Signature
There are three ways to request an electronic signature using SignTime
Send a Document
Bulk Send using a CSV file (template creation needed in advance)
The most commonly used way to request an electronic signature is to "Send a Document".
Send a Document
There are just a few steps when sending a document out to request an electronic signature.
1. Upload Document & Add Information
"Documents" located in the top navigation menu will bring you to the documents page, where the "Send a Document" button can be found. Click on "Send a Document" to start the document preparation process.
Upload Document
Upload a file to send. We allow many types of file formats to be uploaded, but all files will automatically be converted into a PDF-file.
*You can select and upload multiple files. (Files with different extensions will be merged into a single PDF.)
*You can also upload additional files after uploading the first one.
Document Description
Add basic information about your document.
Subject / Message : Used in the signature request emails
Tag List : Can be used to keep documents organized and easy to search
Multiple tags can be added by separating tags with a comma (,)
Can be added/edited/deleted in the documents detail page
Will not be shown to recipients
ex) customer ID, quote number, etc
People Involved
Add information about people involved (recipients of the document).
Type : "Signer" for signers and "CC" for viewers
Signer Sequencing : When enabled, signers receive and sign the document in the order specified
Send SMS-notifications (available for paid plan users only) : When enabled, recipients receive the document via SMS
Either email or phone number is required when "Send SMS-notifications" is enabled
Will be send via email and SMS when both are entered
Upgrade or purchase an option package to unlock the "Send SMS-notifications" feature
$10.00 (plus tax) for a package of 50 SMS messages
Additional package auto-purchased when remaining SMS count hits below 0
No expiry date - automatically carried over to the following month
Settings
Add PDF Advanced E-Signature (PAdES) (available for paid plan users only) : When enabled, a PDF Advanced E-Signature (digital certificate and timestamp) is added to document
Upgrade or purchase an option package to unlock the "Add PDF Advanced E-Signature (PAdES)" feature
$10.00 (plus tax) for a package of 10 PDF Advanced E-Signatures
Additional package auto-purchased when remaining PAdES count hits below 0
No expiry date - automatically carried over to the following month
Access Code : Recipients asked to enter code when viewing document
Codes must be informed to recipients separately (not informed by SignTime)
Expiration Date : Document can be signed until this date (default - 1 month)
Can be changed after sending document in the documents detail page
*View the Terms of Service
2. Document Overlay (Add Field Components)
"Drag and drop" each field component onto the document. At least one field component must be added to each signer.
*Read more about How to set up a successful field component
The following field components are available to use :
Hanko : This field allows a user to add an auto-generated personal stamp (up to 6 characters)
SignTime users can pre-register a Hanko image and select when signing
Sign : This field allows a user to sign the document (either handwritten or auto-generated)
Text : This field allows a user to enter text (letters, numbers, special characters)
Date : This field allows a user to add a date
Check : This field allows a user to add a checkmark
Initials : This field allows a user to add their initials (entered or auto-generated)
Attachment : This field allows a user to upload and attach a file
Useful when requesting personal identification documents
After all necessary field components are in place, continue to preview document for sending.
3. View Document (Preview)
Review and edit document before sending out for signatures.
4. Send
Signature request emails / SMS-notifications are sent out to each recipient. When all signatures are complete, you will receive a link that can be used to view the document at all times, as well as a completed PDF file if necessary. Status of each document can be checked in the "My Documents" list.