Signable Terminology: “Template”, “Document” & “Envelope”

If you’re an avid user of our Signable app, you would’ve noticed that we throw the word “envelope” around a lot in our app, the same as “template” and “document”. But what exactly do we mean by this? Here’s a quick guide to help clear things up:

Envelope

Probably the most-common word you’ve seen around our app. This is essentially like a physical envelope, in which you can put a single document or multiple documents into, to send out to your clients for signing. An envelope can have both a mixture of uploaded documents and templates or just a template you’ve already worked on in Signable (see Templates below)
For help on sending out your first envelope, you can check out our guide here

Document

Documents are used for creating Templates and also for being uploaded for envelopes. These can be singular or multiple documents. PDF, Excel and Word documents are all supported within Signable. As well as adding a Template into an envelope, you can also upload your documents, too. Some of our Signable users will often select a Template they’ve worked on for acquiring details (see example below) and also upload an additional document that may be their Terms & Conditions, for example.
For help on adding more than one document into an envelope, see our guide here

Template

This term confuses a few of our users as the word “template” is often used by people for their own documents that they have filled in on Microsoft Word, Excel, etc. Within Signable, a “Template” is a document that you can save your fields and parties on and re-use for the next time, without having to add all the fields again. This is especially useful for documents that you have not addressed to anyone specifically, like in my example below.
As you can see, I have a basic form where I need information from clients, but have added fields where I would like them to fill their details in themselves. A document like this is a perfect example of a Template and I can upload this in Templates to add fields and save, to save me a lot of time in future.
For help on how to set up a Template and send it in an envelope, you can check out our detailed guide here