DocuSign is a popular eSignature service that allows you to send, sign, and manage documents electronically. With DocuSign, you can easily collect signatures from multiple people without printing or faxing paper documents. This guide will show you how to add and create electronic signatures in DocuSign.
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Getting Started with DocuSign
To use DocuSign’s eSignature features, you first need to create an account. DocuSign offers a few pricing plans depending on your needs. As an individual user or small business, you can start with the Standard plan which costs $10 per user per month.
Once you sign up and verify your account, you can start adding contacts, create templates, and send your first documents for signature. The DocuSign web app offers an intuitive editor to customize your documents before sending.
Adding Signers to Your DocuSign Documents
To collect legally-binding eSignatures with DocuSign, you need to add signers to your documents. There are a few ways to add signers:
Add Email Contacts
You can add contacts from your email address book as signers. When adding a contact, you can specify their name, email address, and signing order.
Enter Email Addresses
If a contact is not in your address book, you can manually enter their name and email address to add them as a signer.
Create Signer Roles
For documents with multiple signers, you can create signer roles like Approver, Witness, etc. When adding contacts as signers, you can assign them a predefined role.
Add Signing Groups
If you regularly send documents to the same group of people in your organization for signature, you can create signing groups with those contacts for easy reuse.
Placing Signatures and Initials in Your Documents
Once you add the signers, the next step is to place signature fields and initial fields in your DocuSign documents. Here are the main types of eSignature fields:
Signature Fields
Add a signature field wherever a handwritten signature would normally go. For example, at the bottom of an agreement or contract.
Initial Fields
Place initial fields next to sections of a document that need to be initialized by the signer before signing.
Date Signed Fields
Add a date signed field to automatically capture the date and time when the signer signs your document.
Name Fields
Use name fields to auto-populate the signer’s full name based on the contact details you added.
Company Fields
Similar to name fields, company fields automatically add the signer’s company name from their contact record.
Checkbox Fields
Add checkboxes to capture signer approvals for specific sections in your documents.
Radio Button Fields
Use radio buttons when you want the signer to select one option out of multiple choice options.
List Fields
List fields allow the signer to select one or more options from a dropdown list.
Sending Your Document for eSignature
When you finish adding signers and signature fields, click the “Send” button in the DocuSign editor to send your document for electronic signature.
The signers will receive an email notification to review and sign your document. They can sign directly on the DocuSign website without creating an account.
As the sender, you will receive email alerts at every step – when the document was sent, delivered, viewed, and completed by all signers.
Handling Rejected and Voided Signatures
Sometimes signers may reject or void their signatures if they change their mind or spot an error after signing. As the sender, you will receive an email notification in such cases.
You can resend the document to the signer for resigning. Alternatively, you can void the entire document envelope and recreate it if extensive changes are required.
Downloading the Signed Documents
Once all the signers complete signing your documents, you can download copies with the captured eSignatures and audit trail showing the signing steps.
DocuSign allows downloading signed documents in PDF or Word format. You can also opt for “certified” copies that include a tamper-evident seal for legal validity.
Advanced Features
Beyond basic signatures, DocuSign offers many powerful features to customize and automate your workflows:
- Create reusable templates for documents you send regularly
- Set up reminders to prompt signers via email
- Configure conditional routing to send documents to different signers based on responses
- Integrate with cloud storage like Dropbox to access documents
- Embed signing workflows into your website or app with DocuSign APIs
- Configure SSO to manage user accounts through your corporate directory
- Leverage analytics for insights into signing turnaround times
- Enable two-factor authentication for added security
As you can see, DocuSign provides everything you need to replace paper and ink signatures with fully digital signing. Whether you are an individual user or an enterprise with complex workflows, DocuSign has the flexibility and controls to meet your needs.
With a bit of learning, anyone can create, manage and integrate electronic signatures seamlessly. This guide should help you get started with the basics. As you use DocuSign more, you will uncover more advanced capabilities to streamline your document processes.