How to Send Documents for Electronic Signature

Emailing a PDF and asking someone to print, sign, scan, and send it back still works, technically. It's also slow, and it produces no real record of who signed what, when. Sending a document for electronic signature properly means the recipient signs from a link in under a minute, and you end up with a timestamped audit trail proving it happened. Here's how.

1. Get your document into PDF

Most e-signature tools, Sign included, work from a PDF. If your document is a Word file, export or print it to PDF first. If it's a paper form, scan it. This matters because a PDF is what can be reliably locked down (flattened and hashed) once everyone has signed, a Word document can't be sealed the same way.

2. Add your recipients

On Sign's New envelope page, upload the PDF and add each person who needs to sign by name and email. If it's a two-party agreement, add both. If only one person needs to sign (you're just collecting a signature on something you already agreed to), add just them.

3. Place fields for each signer

Drag a Signature field onto the document wherever a signature belongs. Add Date, Initials, Text, or Checkbox fields anywhere else the document needs input. If more than one person is signing, switch the active recipient tab before placing each person's fields, so each field is tagged to the right signer, not accidentally left for whoever opens the link first. Placed fields can be dragged to reposition, resized from the corner handle, or reassigned to a different recipient from the dropdown that appears on hover.

4. Send

Sending emails each recipient a private, unique signing link. They don't create an account, the link itself is their access to the document. You can track status per recipient (sent, viewed, signed, declined) from your dashboard the moment they open it.

5. Follow up, or let it follow up itself

If someone hasn't signed after a few days, you can hit remind on their row in the dashboard to resend their invite. Envelopes that go quiet also trigger an automatic reminder, so you're not stuck manually tracking who still owes you a signature.

6. What happens when everyone signs

Once every required signer has signed, the signatures are flattened permanently into the PDF (not left as an editable overlay), the finished document is hashed, and a one-page certificate of completion is generated automatically, showing the full timeline, each signer's status, and the document hashes. You get notified, and the completed file is available from your dashboard any time after.

Sending the same document repeatedly?

If you send the same NDA, lease, or intake form on a regular basis, save its field layout as a template once. Starting a new envelope from a template pre-fills the document and every field position, you just fill in the real names and emails each time, instead of placing fields from scratch.

Is this actually legally valid?

For most everyday contracts in the U.S., yes, this meets the ESIGN Act and UETA requirements: consent, a deliberate act of signing, and a full audit trail. See what makes an electronic signature platform legally binding for the full explanation.

What it costs

Sign's free plan covers 3 envelopes a month with no card required. Paid plans start at $8/month for 25 envelopes, or $19/month for unlimited, no per-seat charges either way. Full details on pricing.