People often use PDFs for professional documents that they don’t want others to edit or change. To sign a PDF, you might think you have to print it, sign it, scan it, and send it back. No need. DocuSign makes it easy to digitally sign PDFs while preserving the document’s security.
An electronic signature is a symbol or other data in digital format that is attached to an electronic document and applied or adopted by a person with an intent to sign. Most often, eSignatures take the form of an image of a physical signature.
Electronically signing documents saves time. If someone sends you a document to sign, you don’t have to print it, sign it, scan it, and then send the document back. You can eSign the document in moments and send it back right away. You can even add an electronic signature to a document using your tablet or mobile device.
Here’s how to make an electronic signature and sign a document online:
If you’ve received a PDF, follow these steps to sign the PDF document online:
To use your webcam to create an electronic signature, first write your signature in black ink on a white (unlined) piece of paper. On the Mac, use the built-in Preview's Signature feature to create a digital signature with the FaceTime camera. In Windows 8 or above, under Start>Run, type Camera and then select the camera app for your computer. Take a picture of your signature. Then, log into your free DocuSign account. Select Edit next to My DocuSign ID. Under Signatures, select Add New and then upload the photo you took. You can now use this signature to sign any online document with DocuSign.
You can use free tools, like DocuSign, to send documents for others to electronically sign. For example, you can use DocuSign’s Free Trial to upload a PDF or other document and then enter the names and email addresses of the people who need to sign. You can then compose an email message in the tool and use it to send the document for electronic signing. DocuSign automatically sends it to each person for an electronic signature and lets you monitor the document’s signing status as it’s routed.
There are a variety of online programs and tools that you can use to add eSignatures to documents. If you already have Adobe Reader on your desktop, when you open a PDF with the product it will prompt you if there are signature fields in the document. Or you can select Sign and Place Signature to add your signature in Adobe Reader. There are other products similar to DocuSign that let you add electronic signatures. And Mac users with OS X Lion or later can use its built-in Preview's Signature feature to create a digital signature with the FaceTime camera, and then use that for electronic signing.
The terms “digital signature” and “electronic signature” are often used interchangeably, but they’re actually different. Digital signatures are a type of electronic signature. Both types can be created online and applied to online documents. In most cases, standard electronic signatures are sufficient. When needed, digital signatures can provide an extra level of security by using technology that encrypts the signature and verifies that the person signing is who they say they are.
Yes. Electronic signatures are legal and binding for nearly every business and transaction. DocuSign electronic signatures comply with the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce (ESIGN) Act and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) in the United States. They also comply with the eIDAS act in the UK and European Union.
