Sending a document: A Step by Step Guide

Sending documents to be signed electronically has never been easier with our system and this guide will take you through every step of the way!

If you would prefer to see a video tutorial, please click here.

Setting up your first envelope

An ‘Envelope’ is what we call a document you send via our system.
Click ‘New Envelope’ on the top left to get started, or if you are in your Dashboard, you’ll see it on the top right as well.

This will bring you to the document selection screen, where you’ll have the choice of choosing your templates, to upload a new document – or both!
To select a template, just click onto it and it will outline in blue.
To upload a document you can either drag a file into the box or click into the space to open up your files.
You can remove any documents added here to by just clicking the ‘x’ icon to the right of the document title.

Once finished, click ‘Next Step’ down on the bottom-right.

Adding parties and setting your Signing Sequence.

First things first – choosing your Signing Sequence!
If you choose All-at-once signing, your envelope will go to all parties to be signed at the same time.
This means you don’t have to worry about who you put as Party 1, Party 2 etc.
If you choose One-at-a-time signing, your envelope will be sent and signed sequentially.
This means whoever is put as Party 1 will receive it first, once signed it will then be sent automatically to Party 2 and so on.
For more information on signing sequences please click here.

In both instances, a signed copy of the envelope will be emailed to each party after everyone has signed. You as the sender will be sent this email too.

Now you can go ahead and add your party details – the name and email address.
A Party is how we refer to someone who is involved in the envelope. You can add a party to sign (including yourself), to simply read and submit, or even to just receive a copy of the signed envelope at the end. For the latter, just add your party and slide the ‘Receives Copy Only’ toggle over.
To add more than one party, click the ‘plus’ sign on the right of the page.
To remove a party, click the red ‘x’.

You will also see ‘Advanced Options’ here.
This is where you can set up personal messages for your signers to see, and save them for future use.
For more information about personal messages, please click here.
You can also password protect your envelope if you wish, to learn more please click here.

Once you are happy with your parties, you can click ‘Next Step’ on the bottom right.

Understanding your Overview page

Now you will see your selected documents, your party details, and the signing sequence you have chosen.
If you need to need to change the signing sequence, you can do so here by clicking ‘Edit‘ on the right of your selection.

You also have the ability to set up Reminders and Expiry settings on this page.
By setting a reminder, a fresh email will be sent containing the envelope to those who have yet to sign. The regularity of these reminders is completely up to yourself to decide.
If you chose One-at-a-time signing, this reminder will only go to the person next in line to sign.
If you chose All-at-once signing, a reminder will be sent to all parties who have not yet signed.

Expiry settings allow you to set a date for when the envelope will expire. Once expired, it will no longer be available for the signer to sign.

Adding your fields

Next is the important part, adding your fields!
A Field is what is used to allow your signer to enter information.
For more information on the different types of fields, please click here.

Click on ‘Add Fields’ and it will bring you to a new page.

The little circles on the top left of your envelope are your parties – in the image above there is an ‘S’ for my signer, Sarah Jones. You can add an additional party if you need to by clicking the circle with the ‘plus’ sign in it.
If you have more than one party, please make sure to select the correct one here when assigning fields to it. This is so the correct party is asked to fill out the correct part of the envelope when signing.
Once you have the right party selected, you can now add your fields.

On the right hand side, select your field by clicking on it once, then click down on the envelope where it needs to be. As you can see in my image above, I have put a text field down so my client, Sarah, can add her company name. If you click on the field you have put down, you can give the field a title and even change who it’s assigned to if needs be.
If you’ve mistakenly put a field down, simply click on it and then click the red bin icon on the right. Alternatively, just click it and press ‘delete’ on your keyboard.
If you are trying to get rid of a field that is following your curser, just press the red cancel icon beside the list of fields on the right.

If you have more than one page to add fields to, just select the next page on the right of your envelope.

Finally, if you’d like to see how your envelope will look from your first signer’s perspective (as seen in the image below), you can click ‘Preview’ on the top right of the envelope. This will open in a new tab, and if you’re happy with it, just go back to your original tab and click ‘Send Now’.
This of course is optional, if you don’t need to preview, just go ahead and send away!

That’s it! You’ve officially sent your first envelope!

For more advanced options to get the most out of your electronic signatures, then take a look at our video course here!