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
- Launch Template (template creation needed in advance)
- 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.
- Upload Document & Add Information
- Document Overlay (Add Field Components)
- View Document (Preview)
- Send
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.
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 (electronic signatures 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
- Upgrade or purchase an option package to unlock the "Add PDF Advanced E-Signature (PAdES)" feature
- 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 Add Field Components to Documents and Templates
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.
Read More
Add Field Components to Documents and Templates
Request an E-Signature Using a SignTime Template