Additional information on signing agreements can be found here.
What's New
Get Started
- Quick start guide for administrators
- Quick start guide for users
- For Developers
- Video tutorial library
- FAQ
Administer
- Admin Console Overview
- User Management
- Adding users
- Create function-focused users
- Check for users with provisioning errors
- Change Name/Email Address
- Edit a user's group membership
- Edit a user's group membership through the group interface
- Promote a user to an admin role
- User Identity Types and SSO
- Switch User Identity
- Authenticate Users with MS Azure
- Authenticate Users with Google Federation
- Product Profiles
- Login Experience
- Account/Group Settings
- Settings Overview
- Global Settings
- Account tier and ID
- New Recipient Experience
- Self Signing Workflows
- Send in Bulk
- Web Forms
- Custom Send Workflows
- Power Automate Workflows
- Library Documents
- Collect form data with agreements
- Limited Document Visibility
- Attach a PDF copy of the signed agreement
- Include a link in the email
- Include an image in the email
- Files attached to email will be named as
- Attach audit reports to documents
- Merge multiple documents into one
- Download individual documents
- Upload a signed document
- Delegation for users in my account
- Allow external recipients to delegate
- Authority to sign
- Authority to send
- Power to add Electronic Seals
- Set a default time zone
- Set a default date format
- Users in Multiple Groups (UMG)
- Group Administrator Permissions
- Replace recipient
- Audit Report
- Transaction Footer
- In Product Messaging and Guidance
- Accessible PDFs
- New authoring experience
- Healthcare customer
- Account Setup
- Add logo
- Customize company Hostname/URL
- Add company name
- Post agreement URL redirect
- Signature Preferences
- Well formatted signatures
- Allow recipients to sign by
- Signers can change their name
- Allow recipients to use their saved signature
- Custom Terms of Use and Consumer Disclosure
- Navigate recipients through form fields
- Restart agreement workflow
- Decline to sign
- Allow Stamps workflows
- Require signers to provide their Title or Company
- Allow signers to print and place a written signature
- Show messages when e-signing
- Require signers to use a mobile device to create their signature
- Request IP address from signers
- Exclude company name and title from participation stamps
- Digital Signatures
- Electronic Seals
- Digital Identity
- Report Settings
- New report experience
- Classic report settings
- Security Settings
- Single Sign-on settings
- Remember-me settings
- Login password policy
- Login password strength
- Web session duration
- PDF encryption type
- API
- User and group info access
- Allowed IP Ranges
- Account Sharing
- Account sharing permissions
- Agreement sharing controls
- Signer identity verification
- Agreement signing password
- Document password strength
- Block signers by Geolocation
- Phone Authentication
- Knowledge-Based Authentication (KBA)
- Allow page extraction
- Document link expiration
- Upload a client certificate for webhooks/callbacks
- Timestamp
- Send settings
- Show Send page after login
- Require recipient name when sending
- Lock name values for known users
- Allowed recipient roles
- Allow e-Witnesses
- Recipient groups
- Required fields
- Attaching documents
- Field flattening
- Modify Agreements
- Agreement name
- Languages
- Private messages
- Allowed signature types
- Reminders
- Signed document password protection
- Send Agreement Notification through
- Signer identification options
- Content Protection
- Enable Notarize transactions
- Document Expiration
- Preview, position signatures, and add fields
- Signing order
- Liquid mode
- Custom workflow controls
- Upload options for the e-sign page
- Post-sign confirmation URL redirect
- Message Templates
- Bio-Pharma Settings
- Workflow Integration
- Notarization Settings
- Payments Integration
- Signer Messaging
- SAML Settings
- SAML Configuration
- Install Microsoft Active Directory Federation Service
- Install Okta
- Install OneLogin
- Install Oracle Identity Federation
- SAML Configuration
- Data Governance
- Time Stamp Settings
- External Archive
- Account Languages
- Email Settings
- Migrating from echosign.com to adobesign.com
- Configure Options for Recipients
- Guidance for regulatory requirements
- Accessibility
- HIPAA
- GDPR
- 21 CFR part 11 and EudraLex Annex 11
- Healthcare customers
- IVES support
- "Vaulting" agreements
- EU/UK considerations
- Download Agreements in Bulk
- Claim your domain
- Report Abuse links
Send, Sign, and Manage Agreements
- Recipient Options
- Cancel an email reminder
- Options on the e-signing page
- Overview of the e-sign page
- Open to read the agreement without fields
- Decline to sign an agreement
- Delegate signing authority
- Restart the agreement
- Download a PDF of the agreement
- View the agreement history
- View the agreement messages
- Convert from an electronic to a written signature
- Convert from a written to an electronic signature
- Navigate the form fields
- Clear the data from the form fields
- E-sign page magnification and navigation
- Change the language used in the agreement tools and information
- Review the Legal Notices
- Adjust Acrobat Sign Cookie Preferences
- Send Agreements
- Authoring fields into documents
- In-app authoring environment
- Create forms with text tags
- Create forms using Acrobat (AcroForms)
- Fields
- Authoring FAQ
- Sign Agreements
- Manage Agreements
- Manage page overview
- Delegate agreements
- Replace Recipients
- Limit Document Visibility
- Cancel an Agreement
- Create new reminders
- Review reminders
- Cancel a reminder
- Access Power Automate flows
- More Actions...
- How search works
- View an agreement
- Create a template from an agreement
- Hide/Unhide agreements from view
- Upload a signed agreement
- Modify a sent agreement's files and fields
- Edit a recipient's authentication method
- Add or modify an expiration date
- Add a Note to the agreement
- Share an individual agreement
- Unshare an agreement
- Download an individual agreement
- Download the individual files of an agreement
- Download the Audit Report of an agreement
- Download the field content of an agreement
- Audit Report
- Reporting and Data exports
- Overview
- Grant users access to reporting
- Report charts
- Data Exports
- Rename a report/export
- Duplicate a report/export
- Schedule a report/export
- Delete a report/export
- Check Transaction Usage
Advanced Agreement Capabilities and Workflows
- Webforms
- Reusable Templates (Library templates)
- Transfer ownership of web forms and library templates
- Power Automate Workflows
- Overview of the Power Automate integration and included entitlements
- Enable the Power Automate integration
- In-Context Actions on the Manage page
- Track Power Automate usage
- Create a new flow (Examples)
- Triggers used for flows
- Importing flows from outside Acrobat Sign
- Manage flows
- Edit flows
- Share flows
- Disable or Enable flows
- Delete flows
- Useful Templates
- Administrator only
- Agreement archival
- Webform agreement archival
- Save completed web form documents to SharePoint Library
- Save completed web form documents to OneDrive for Business
- Save completed documents to Google Drive
- Save completed web form documents to Box
- Agreement data extraction
- Agreement notifications
- Send custom email notifications with your agreement contents and signed agreement
- Get your Adobe Acrobat Sign notifications in a Teams Channel
- Get your Adobe Acrobat Sign notifications in Slack
- Get your Adobe Acrobat Sign notifications in Webex
- Agreement generation
- Generate document from Power App form and Word template, send for signature
- Generate agreement from Word template in OneDrive, and get signature
- Generate agreement for selected Excel row, send for review and signature
- Custom Send workflows
- Share users and agreements
Integrate with other products
- Acrobat Sign integrations overview
- Acrobat Sign for Salesforce
- Acrobat Sign for Microsoft
- Other Integrations
- Partner managed integrations
- How to obtain an integration key
Acrobat Sign Developer
- REST APIs
- Webhooks
Support and Troubleshooting
Welcome to Adobe Acrobat Sign!
Before you begin using Adobe Acrobat Sign, we’ve got some basics to run through. The purpose of this guide is to get you familiar with Acrobat Sign and the functionality available to you as a user.
This guide covers all the important processes in Acrobat Sign and familiarizes you with the user interface. The
Acrobat Sign Help system provides more in-depth information where needed. If you are connected to the Internet, you can click on the links in the grey boxes that begin with the text “Additional information …” to view the related help topics.
Where applicable, features and functions specific to business and/or enterprise levels of service are noted. This guide documents the features and functions available at the highest level of license agreement, Acrobat Sign for enterprise. To determine your license type, go to My Profile. If you have questions about the features available for your license, please contact your Client Success Manager or Adobe Acrobat Sign Support.
Acrobat Sign is a highly customizable application with a wide range of features that may or may not apply to how you do business. Your account administrator or group administrator may have disabled some of the options described. If you have a need for something you don’t see available to you, contact your group or account administrator. Our service supports different configurations for different groups so even if it’s best to have a feature disabled for one group, it’s possible to have it enabled for another.
By the end of this guide, you’ll be familiar with all of the standard “send” workflows in Acrobat Sign as well as how to manage your agreements, and how to generate reports so you can stay on top of what’s complete, and what is still pending.
Personalize your Account
When you first log into Acrobat Sign, take a minute to review your personal user information. This information is used in several templates, so it’s important to ensure it is correct.
- Mouse over your name in the upper-right corner to open the menu, and click My Profile
The profile page shows the specific values that Acrobat Sign will use when personalizing any of your transactions. Of particular interest are:
- Your full name – Used in email communications and for your default typeset signature
- Your job title – Automatically populates if you ever have a Title field to fill in
- Your company name – Reflected in email communications, this should be the full legal company name
- Time Zone - Time/Date stamps will be cast in your time zone for better clarity when running reports.
- Measure Unit - Inches or centimeters. It matters if you place Stamp fields on your forms.
If you need to adjust any of the content, click the Edit Profile button, make the required changes, and then Save your edits.
After configuring your personal information, take a quick look through the other personal preferences you see listed on the left side of the screen. These options are specific to you as a user, and may be useful automation:
- My Profile – Your personally identifying information.
- Access Tokens – If you are a developer, this is where your API tokens are defined and listed
- Twitter Integration – Send a Tweet every time an agreement is completed!
- My Email Footer – Add a custom (plain text) footer to the bottom of your email templates when sending new agreements.
- Auto Delegation – Automatically delegate any Acrobat Sign agreements sent to you for signature to the named party. Similar to an “Out of Office” forwarding process for Acrobat Sign agreements.
- My Notifications – Configure which types of events/alerts you want Acrobat Sign to notify you about, and how you want to be notified. You can get a real-time email, or log the event and set up reporting on a daily or weekly cycle. (Events are triggers when something happens. Alerts are triggered when a time interval passes and something doesn’t happen).
- Shared Notifications –If another user’s account is shared with you, you can customize which of their events and alerts you’d like to be informed of.
- My Signature – Upload an image of your signature and initials. PNG files work best.
- Language Preferences – There are two settings to consider under this heading:
- My Language Preference – This setting allows you to define the language used for you within the
Acrobat Sign web application. - Signing Language – This setting defines the default language used for the email notifications and the recipient’s guided signing experience.
- My Language Preference – This setting allows you to define the language used for you within the
- View Other Accounts – If you need to view the agreements on another user’s account, you can request that here. A list of all viewed accounts will be enumerated. This is a “read-only” perspective.
- Share My Account – If you need to share your account with another person, you can specify who can see your agreements here. Sharing your account is a view only. The viewer cannot sign, cancel or delegate.
Page by Page Overview
The Home page is the first page that most users will sign in to. (The Send page is the other option as configured by your account administrator.)
The Home page is a view composed of the following sections that give you a quick view and access to most of the Acrobat Sign features:
- In Progress - A counter of the agreements you have created and that are still in progress
- Clicking the counter opens the Manage page filtered for the agreements that are in progress
- The In Progress counter does not include agreements that are Waiting for you
- Waiting for you - A counter that indicates all of the agreements that are currently waiting for your action
- Clicking the counter opens the Manage page filtered for the agreements that are waiting for you
- Events and Alerts - Clicking the counter opens the Notifications page, opened to the events tab.
- Request Signatures – A quick link to the Send page with the additional option to start the process by attaching a Library document or starting a Custom Workflow (if enabled for your account)
- Start from library - This allows you to select a library template, or a workflow to start a new agreement.
- More things you can do– A list of other common actions
- Fill and sign a document – Used when you need to apply your signature to a document, and then send that signed document to another party. For example, filling out tax forms or permission slips.
- Publish a web form – Web forms are documents/forms you can link to or embed into your website that allow customers to generate a signed document. For example, a membership application or a registration form on your website.
- Send in bulk – A workflow that allows you to send a document for individual signature to hundreds of people. Each person gets their own discreet agreement requesting just their signature. For example, the Annual Code of Conduct agreements.
- Create a reusable template – Allows you to create a document or field template for repeated use. Templates can be saved for personal use, group use, or available to the entire account.
- Manage and track all agreements - Brings you to the Manage page.
- Enhance your account - The Enhance your account button opens a small dialogue box that varies based on the highest authority level of the user:
- Users are brought to the My Signature page to create their signature.
- Group-level admins are brought to the account setup page to upload a logo for their group.
- Account-level admins are brought to the account level setup page to configure the company name, hostname, and logo.
- Get help - Users can gain access to the self-service Help content by clicking the question mark in the upper right corner of any Acrobat Sign window. Clicking the question mark opens a sub-menu with these options:
- User Guide - Opens a new tab to the Adobe Acrobat Sign user guide.
- Tutorials - Opens a new tab to the Adobe Acrobat Sign video tutorials.
- Contact Support - Opens the Support contact portal where email, chat, and phone support can be accessed.
- Support options vary based on the service level of the customer account.
- Requests to change settings, modify the account, or investigate a specific transaction (or other user content) must be made by an account admin for the Acrobat Sign account.
- Release Notes - A link to the current release notes
The Send page is where you configure and send new ad hoc agreements. There are five functional sections to configure:
- The Send from group (UMG enabled accounts only) - The group selector defines the configurable options and available templates for the agreement. Configure this first, as resetting the group will refresh the page and remove any prior configurations.
- Recipients – Recipients are the people that you need to interact with your agreement. There are multiple types of “Recipients”. The available options are dictated by your account administrator.
- Message – Where you define the name of the agreement and a message you want to deliver to the recipients.
- Options – These options help control the agreement
- Password Protect – You can secure your signed documents by providing a password that is applied to the final PDF to prevent unauthorized viewing.
- Completion Deadline – When an agreement has to be signed by a specific date, you can use this option to automatically cancel the agreement after a specified number of days.
- Send Reminder – You can set up reminders on a regular cycle to be sent to the current active recipients.
- Recipient’s Language – The language you choose is used in the recipient’s emails communication and on the e-sign page.
- Files – This is where you select the actual documents you are sending for signature.
As a sender, recipient, or even as a CC’d party, if you were a participant with an Acrobat Sign agreement, it will be available on your Manage page. As a portal to all agreements tied to your user, the page is designed with two goals in mind: find the agreement you want to examine, and perform management tasks for that agreement.
The main body of the page is the listing of your agreements, filtered by the status of the agreements in the left rail (In Progress, Waiting for You, Complete, Canceled, Expired, and Draft). Template filters are also available just under the agreement filters (Templates, Web Forms, and Send in Bulk).
Input text filters at the top of the page can help locate individual documents by searching for the email, name of the agreement, Name of a recipient (if known to the system), date, notes, etc.)
Regularly scheduled reports can help you quickly assess how your documents are progressing, and where your attention is needed. Reports can be custom designed to trigger any day at any time to include the scope from all agreements to only documents with a specified name.
Sending agreements
Sending documents and collecting signatures and approvals is what Acrobat Sign is all about! Every customer has different requirements regarding who needs to interact with the document and in what order, so there are a number of workflow features available in the Send page interface you should know about.
If you are in an account that has Users in Multiple Groups (UMG) enabled, select the group you want to send the agreement from before configuring the agreement.
- Setting the Group value loads the group-related properties and templates for you to choose from.
- When changing the Group, you will notice the page refresh. Any entered content will be cleared away in this refresh.
If you do not see the Send from dropdown at the top of the page, your account is not UMG enabled.
Define the recipients and the order in which they gain access to interact with the document.
- Configuring agreements with multiple signers is the same process as a single singer, just with more recipients. Add each and configure them as needed.
- Adding the same email in the agreement multiple times (eg; if someone has actions at different stages of the process) is allowed.
In the Recipients section, the very top switch asks you select the basic signature order:
- Complete in Order is selected (as shown above), a sequential signing process is observed from one signing step to the next and recipients are numbered to indicate the exact participation order
- Hybrid signature flows start as a sequential (Complete in Order) workflow
- When Complete in Any Order is enabled, parallel signing can take place and recipients are not numbered to indicate that there is no specific participation order.
To the right of the signature order switch, you will see two links:
- Add Me – Click this link to include yourself as the next recipient in the participation order
- Add Recipient Group – Click this link to create a group of recipients where one needs to participate on behalf of the entire group. For example, create a group for the HR team, where only one person from HR actually needs to sign the agreement.
To change the order of the recipients, you can click and drag the recipients to the correct stack order, or you can directly edit the numbers and the stack will adjust accordingly.
Each recipient is created with five elements:
A. Participation Order – When Complete in Order is selected the participation order provides a clear indication of when each recipient will interact with the agreement.
B. Role – How is the recipient best characterized?
C. Email address – This is the recipient’s identifying email address and is used for all email communication with the recipient, including the request to sign.
D. Authentication Methods – How should the recipient be vetted? Do you want to use second-factore authentication?
E. Private Message (optional) – The sender can supply individual instructions to each recipient which appear when the recipient is viewing the agreement.
The Show CC link under the recipient list exposes a field where you can carbon copy (CC) any email address that you want to view the agreement, without them having signing/approval authority.
A “Hybrid” workflow is an instance of the sequential participation order where one or more of the steps includes two or more recipients gaining access to the document at the same time. All of the signers/approvers of the “parallel” step will need to complete their part before the sequential process moves to the next step.
Recipient Groups are useful when you need sign-off from a team or an organization, but not from a specific individual in that group. Any member in the group is authorized to sign or approve on behalf of the entire group.
The Message section contains two fields that can dramatically improve your success.
The Agreement Name field allows you to enter any string that will identify the agreement. This string will populate in the Subject line of the recipients’ email (highlighted in yellow below), and also as the name value on the Manage page. Providing a unique and meaningful agreement name will help your recipients identify your email more readily, and can improve your ability to search for the agreement if needed.
If no agreement name is entered before a document is attached, the agreement name will adopt the file name of the first file attached. This value can be edited until the agreement is sent.
The Agreement Message is a plain text field where you can enter any instructions or comments that are warranted (highlighted in green below). This message appears on the Please Sign email sent to all recipients (unlike the Private Message which only appears for the recipient it is configured for).
Message Templates
Enterprise-level customers will have access to Message Templates that are configured by your Administrator. Message templates are directly tied to the Recipient’s Language feature in the Options sections, so when you select “Spanish” from the language drop-down, all of your Spanish templates will become available.
If you have a language selected that has no templates tied to it, the Message Template option will not be visible on your Send page.
The Options section allows you to better control the agreement after it has been sent:
- Password Protect - Require recipients to enter a password to open and view the signed PDF file. This password is defined by the sender and would be communicated out of band. Acrobat Sign does not record this password, so don’t forget it!
- Completion Deadline - Set the number of days after which the agreement expires and can no longer be completed.
- Set Reminder - Set the frequency (daily or weekly) of reminders to be sent until the agreement is completed. Only the current recipients will be notified.
- Recipients' Language - Select the language to be used in emails sent to recipients and during the signing experience.
- This setting also defines the visible Message Templates if your account is configured to use them.
The File section is where you attach the documents to the transaction.
Acrobat Sign will combine all documents into one inclusive PDF agreement for the signature process, and will build that PDF based on the order that the documents are listed. Documents can be rearranged by clicking and dragging one document to a new list location.
Files can be attached from the Acrobat Sign library, Google docs, Box.net, Dropbox, OneDrive, uploaded from your local system using file search, or you can drag and drop a file into the Files box.
File types allowed are: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, JPG, GIF, TIF, PNG, BMP, TXT, RTF, HTML
Preview & Add Signature Fields
Just under the Files list you will see the Preview & Add Signature Fields check box. This option allows you to open the documents that you upload and place form fields as needed on them.
You should place at least the signature fields, but there are many other fields you can use to build complex forms if you like.
If no signature fields are placed, Acrobat Sign will automatically add a new page to accommodate the signatures at the end of the document.
Sending a document to just one recipient is one of the most common agreement workflows and a great way to learn the basic process. All you need is:
- The recipient’s email address
- This email must be different than the email you log in with (you cannot send to yourself)
- A document or file that you want signed
Sending to multiple recipients
Sending an agreement to multiple recipients follows the exact same steps with two notable differences:
- You have to include each recipient in their own line of the Recipients section, in the order you want them to sign.
- When placing fields, you have to declare which recipient should have access to that field by double-clicking the field and setting the Recipient value.
Signing environment
Experiencing the signing process is helpful in understanding the end result of the configurations done by the sender.
1. An email is delivered to the recipient’s email box.
○ The subject line will start with: Signature requested on {The document name}
2. The agreement is opened by clicking the Review and sign button
3. The Agreement opens in a new browser window
Other options on the page include:
A. Options – This list includes the options the recipient has based on their role
○ Read Agreeement - Opens the agreement in a view only format
○ Delegate signing to another– The option allows the recipient to delegate their authority to another individual. For example – a colleague or a manager
○ Decline to sign – This action terminates the agreement
○ Print, sign and upload -Allows the signer to convert the workflow from an electronic signature to a physical signature. The signer then uploads the signed document.
○ Clear document data – This options will clear all field contents
○ View history - Opens the current aaudit report for view
○ Download PDF - Downloads the current version of the agreement in PDF format
B. Message – The speech bubble icon will pop-up the messages again
C. Required Field Counter – This counter shows the number of required fields on the document that still haven’t been filled. Clicking this field will navigate the signer through the required (not optional) fields available to them
D. Next Field Tab - This yellow arrow can help find the next fields if you are scrolling through a large document. This tab will cycle all fields, not just the required ones.
This document only has one signature field, and it is required (as noted by the red asterisk). For documents with multiple fillable fields, you can tab through them.
4. To apply a signature, double-click the field to open the signature panel.
5. Type your name into the top field of the signature panel.
Finalizing your signature can be done in one of four ways:
○ Typeset font (default) – Acrobat Sign will apply a script-like font to the name you enter.
○ Physically drawn – Using a mouse, stylus, or any other pointer device, physically draw your signature. Using your finger on a tablet provides an excellent result.
○ Image – If you have a stamp image of your signature, you can upload it.
○ Mobile - The Mobile option allows you to cast the signature panel from your desktop to a mobile device, permitting an easier device to physically draw your signature on.
6. Click Apply to place your signature in the signature field and return you to the document.
7. Once all of the required fields are completed, click the Click to sign button at the bottom of the window (you can’t miss it).
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At the bottom of the Acrobat Sign page is a toolbar containing tools for navigating in the agreement, zooming in or out, and downloading the document. You can hide this toolbar by clicking the X in the lower right-hand corner. To temporarily redisplay the hidden toolbar, hover your cursor at the bottom of the window, and the controls will reappear.
Managing Agreements
Managing your agreements is an important part of working with Acrobat Sign. Use the Manage page to track, process, and customize agreements. Whether it’s canceling an agreement or replacing the signer, these processes allow you to influence the transaction’s progress in the system.
The Manage page has a lot of embedded features to explore. For simplicity it can be broken up into three functional areas:
A. Filters
B. Agreement list
C. Agreement tools
Agreement Filters
The multiple status "folders" on the classic page have been consolidated into a more practical series of filters that return the agreements of a given status type. In the top section, you have the Agreement filters, which return agreements based on the current status of the agreement.
There are two "active" statuses. Each indicates the volume of content parenthetically after the status name:
- In Progress (N) - Agreements returned in the In Progress status are waiting for a participant to complete their action. Agreements that are waiting for the logged-in user are not returned.
- Waiting for You (M) - Agreements waiting for the logged-in user are captured in the Waiting for You filter.
There are three "terminal" statuses:
- Completed - Agreements that are successfully and completely resolved.
- Canceled - Agreements that are abandoned for any reason. This includes:
- Agreements canceled by the sender
- Agreements declined by a participant
- Agreements that are terminated due to repeated failure to authenticate
- Agreements that suffer from a system error that causes the agreement to become unviable
- Expired - Agreements that reach an expiration date and are closed automatically.
There is a Draft status that contains all of the partially built agreements.
The lower section is dedicated to template "parent" objects. The "child" agreements that are created from these templates are filtered above in the agreement status filters.
Parent objects are not agreements themselves but are used to produce high volumes of individual agreements. These parent objects include:
- (Library) Templates - All of the document and field templates available in your document library
- Web Forms - Previously called Widgets, web forms are agreement templates that can be delivered as links, or embedded into web pages. Web forms are signer initiated, generating a child agreement for every participant that fills one out
- Send in Bulk - Send in Bulk templates are designed to produce a high volume of individual agreements that are sent and signed like a "regular" agreement
Users that have content shared to them from other user accounts can filter for that content by clicking the down arrow next to Your agreements.
The pop-down menu shows a list of all users (and groups when advanced sharing is enabled) that have shared content to you. Select the user, and your Manage page reloads with the content of the selected user.
Agreement Lists
The main body of the page contains the lists of agreements that you are related to. Every agreement that involves your email address will be reflected somewhere on the list. Not just the agreements that you have initiated, but the agreements that have been sent for you to sign/approve, as well as any agreement you have been CC’d on.
The agreement list is always filtered by the document status selection on the left.
The headers along the top of the lists will sort the contents of each section by single-clicking them. Clicking them again will reverse the sort order.
The individual records contain the following information:
- Recipient– The name value will reflect either the name or email address of the first recipient that is not the sender.
- An email address is used if the recipient has never signed a document through the Acrobat Sign system.
- Once a name value is entered during the signature process, the email will be replaced by the name
- Company – If the first recipient has entered a company name, either through a signature field or by logging in and updating their profile, that company name value will be reflected.
- If you do not include Company Name fields in your agreements, this column will remain largely empty.
- Document Title – This is your Agreement Name.
- Status– When the In Progress filter is selected, the second column is Status, which should always be Out for Signature (or Approval, acceptance, etc.).
- Action - When viewing the Waiting for You filter, the second column indicates the action that is pending (including a link to open that agreement).
- Sender - When viewing the three terminal statuses (Completed, Canceled, and Expired) the second column indicates the original sender of the agreement.
- Modified– This date shows the last modified date, meaning the last time the agreement was updated as a sending event, or a signing/approval event.
The Agreement Tools panel will allow you to access a few controls to better manage or understand your agreements.
- Expiration Date - Displays the automatic cancelation date of the agreement if set. Clicking the pencil icon allows you to set or edit this value.
- View – Opens the agreement to view.
- Modify Agreement - Allows for replacing the documents attached to the agreement and/or editing the fields on the document. Only permissible before the first recipient takes their action.
- Reminder – Reminders can be created or deleted after the agreement is sent using this link. Additionally, you can send a reminder in real-time, or on a specific date.
- Share – Sharing a document with this feature will ask you to enter an email address and a message, and then email that address a copy of the agreement in its current state as well as adding the document to the Manage tab of the designated email address.
- Cancel - Cancels the agreement.
- Download PDF - Downloads a copy of the agreement in its current state.
- Download Individual Files - This allows for the download of individual files if the original agreement was built with multiple files.
- Download Audit Report – This link generates an extended PDF report of the agreement history including deeper parameters like the IP address for each event.
- Notes – You can add a personal note to any agreement. This note is personal to just you and is not shared with any other user or the signer. Notes are searchable in the text filters.
- Replace signer - Allows for replacing the current recipient.
- Edit Authentication - Allows for changing the current authentication method for a recipient. Can be used to reset an authentication password if you have forgotten it.
- Activity – This tab is an inclusive list of all events the agreement has logged, starting with the Send event, and ending with the final signature event.
The Search bar and accompanying Filters button allow for precise search criteria to help find agreements in what can quickly become an overwhelming number of transactions.
Filtering the returned data
Four filters, which can be used individually or in combination, are available to help reduce the dataset to a manageable listing of records.
Filtering by Modified Date
The Modified Date value filters the most recent time/date stamp when a user action updates the agreement. The Modified Date becomes a locked value once the agreement reaches a terminal status (Complete/Canceled/Expired).
The Modified Date filter icon opens the options to reduce further the data set by selecting a date range:
- All dates
- Last 24 hours
- Last seven days
- Last 30 days
- Last 12 months
- Custom date range
Filtering by Field values
Using the Search input box (to the right of the Filters button), you can apply a filter to individual fields that can hold highly specific or unique data.
The searchable field options are:
- All fields - The default value; this option searches all field options for the exact string in the Search field, returning the largest set of records.
- Title - Limits the returned dataset to records with the searched string found in the object's title (e.g., Agreement name).
- Note - Limits the dataset to records that contain the searched string in the searching user's personal notes.
- Message - Limits the dataset to records that contain the searched string in the Message field or Private Message of the agreement.
- Original file names - Evaluates the file name of the original uploaded document and returns only records that match.
- Email - Matches the email address of a recipient.
- Note that this filter does not trap Text fields defined with an Email Address validation.
- Full name - Matches the Name value supplied by a recipient when applying a signature. If only one name is provided, all records that match that one value are returned.
- Note that Name values depend on what the recipient enters and may not match previous signature values or profile names (if the recipient has an Acrobat Sign user account).
- Job title - Matches values placed in the Title field.
- Company name - Matches values placed in the Company field.
- Recipient group name - Matches the (sender entered) Recipient group name.
- Text field content - Matches the exact value of any Text input field. This includes default values and individual words found in larger text blocks.
Filtering by Group
Accounts with Users in Multiple Groups enabled have access to a Group filter that limits the returned dataset to only agreements sent from that group.
When a filter is selected, a tag is displayed next to the filter icon. Any one filter can be clicked to remove it after the data set has returned.
Reports (Business and enterprise service levels only)
The report feature lets you check on how your account is using Acrobat Sign. Build your own reports and gain complete visibility into your document signing process, while seeing how individual groups or users are doing.
Detailed information on reporting can be found in the below links:
Grant users access to reporting
Report charts
Data Exports
- Create a new data export
- Edit a data export
- Refresh the data export content
- Download the data export
Common actions
Preview and the authoring experience
The Authoring environment provides the form-building functionality for Acrobat Sign. Beyond placing signature fields, you can include fields that auto-populate content, like the date or the signer's signature values (when known), or text fields that do content validation and/or complex calculations. Other common field types such as dropdown boxes, radio buttons, and checkboxes are also available
Accessing the Authoring environment is done by:
- Sending a new document and enabling the Preview & Add Signature Fields option on the Send page
- Editing a Draft document on the Manage page
- Creating a new template or web form from the Home page
- Editing an existing library document or web form from the Manage page
○ You can only edit the templates you have uploaded. In the below image you can see that the second template is shared by another user, and thus not editable.
Once the Authoring environment is launched, take a moment to identify the five key areas:
A. Form Field Template—This option only displays if you have created at least one form field library template.
B. Field Layout and Alignment—This displays the form field size/alignment toolbar
C. Select Recipient (Role)—This drop-down lists the recipients for the agreement
D. Form Field Tabs—You can select fields from these tabs to add to your document
E. Back / Reset / Save Template / Save Progress:
►Back - The Back button allows the user to navigate back to the Send page to edit the name and message of the agreement, the email addresses of the recipients, and the files attached to the agreement
► Reset removes all modifications made to the template since it was loaded or last saved
►Save as template - When checked, the template is saved as a discrete library object once the agreement is sent. Upon clicking Send, the user is prompted to provide a name for the new template
►Save Progress - Clicking this link will save the current state of the template
Form Field Template
If you’ve created a form field template for your document, you can select and apply that template using this set of tools.
The drop-down lists the form field templates that are available and you can choose which page to start the template on. Multiple templates can be applied.
Additional information on using form field templates can be found in the Acrobat Sign Help by clicking here. |
Field Layout and Alignment
This menu option displays the tools for aligning and resizing fields relative to one another. You can control-click on multiple fields, or hold down the shift key and select an area with your mouse, to adjust them as a group.
The six icons on the left will align the fields to the top, horizontal midline, bottom, left, vertical midline, and right (as viewed from left to right).
The next three icons will snap all fields to the same width, height, or both.
Alignment and sizing are based on the first field you select.
Select Recipient (Role)
Arguably the most important element of form building is associating the various recipients with the fields they need to populate. By selecting the recipient from the Recipients list first, any subsequent field you place on the form will be automatically related to that recipient. Change the recipient, and any new fields placed will be related to that new recipient.
When a specific recipient is selected, the fields assigned to them will be highlighted on the document, giving you a good visual indicator as to which fields are related to any selected recipient.
Once a field is on a document, you can modify the recipient the field is assigned to by double-clicking the field to open the field menu, and then changing the Recipient drop down.
Form field menus
All of the fields available in Acrobat Sign can be found in the menus on the right rail of the window. These fields are categorized by use and field type, and most can be manipulated to the height and width demanded by your form.
Detailed information on the types of form fields can be found in on the Field Types article. |
Save as template
After you have added the new form fields to your agreement, you can save a copy to your library before you send the agreement out for signatures.
Click the Save as template checkbox on the bottom right side of the authoring window before you click the Send button, to add the modified agreement to your library.
First, the document will be saved to your library.
Then your agreement will be sent for signature.
Zoom, Reset and Save/Send
The remaining options allow you to zoom in and out of your document, reset or delete all of the fields you’ve placed, or save/send the document in its current state.
Save as template will save the form as a new library template once the agreement is sent. The sender will get the option to name the template once the Send button is selected.
As a best practice, you should save progress often. However, if you navigate away from the authoring environment, the document is automatically saved. You can access it later from the Manage page in the Draft section.
Library Templates
A library template is a reusable object. Acrobat Sign supports two types of library templates: document templates and form field templates.
- Document Templates—A document template is a reusable document. Document templates can be shared with other users in your account, allowing multiple users to send out the same document without needing to make any changes.
- Form Field Templates—A form field template is a reusable field layer that can be applied to any document. Form field templates can also be shared with other users in your account. Form field templates are ideal in the following situations:
- You have one field layout that works for multiple documents.
- You have a document that can be sent in a number of different ways.
- You need to revise the document’s content, but the fields remain in the same place.
Instead of creating a new library document every time a document is updated, the same form field layer can be applied. Form field templates can be edited to facilitate changes in the arrangement of fields or field properties. Again, all the tools in the authoring environment are available when creating a form field template.
As a best practice, a single user (Document Administrator) should be responsible for creating and maintaining templates. Creating a Doc Admin user login eliminates confusion as to what templates to use and provides version control for your reusable documents.
We recommend using a distribution list or functional email for the Doc Admin user login. This allows you to control access to this Doc Admin login while at the same time allowing the responsibility to be shared as needed.
Additional information on using the authoring tools to create templates can be found here. |
1. Click the Home tab. Then click Create a reusable template
The Create a Library Template page displays.
2. In the Template Name field, enter a name for your template. This can be changed at a later time if necessary.
3. Click the Browse button to navigate to the file on your local system to be used to create your reusable template. If you are creating a reusable document, this file and its content will be used. If you are creating a reusable form field layer, the content of the file will not be included in the template.
4. Select the appropriate Template Option, either Create as reusable document, Create as a reusable form field layer, or both.
5. Select the appropriate permissions option for sharing the template.
Group permissions can only be granted to the group you are currently in. You cannot grant permissions to other groups.
6. Click the Preview or Add Fields button. The Authoring experience displays.
7. Place the required fields that are for the intended participants by dragging them from the form fields tabs and dropping them onto the document
8. When you're done adding fields, click the Save button
The template will now display under the Templates section of your Manage page. If you have shared the template with users in your group or in your organization by granting permission, the template now also displays in the Templates section of their Manage pages, and they can use it to send as often as they like.
Only the user who created the library template can edit it or delete it (unless advanced sharing is enabled)
Alternate workflows for signatures
There are a number of workflows you can use to send documents for signatures, collect signatures, and send a signed document, including the following:
- Signing using "Fill & Sign" or Structured self sign
- Sending using Send in Bulk
- Using web forms to collect signatures
The following sections discuss each of these processes in more detail.
Additional information on sending agreements can be found here. |
Depending on your business requirements, multiple recipients may need to act on an agreement. For example, you may need two people to sign an agreement and another to approve it or delegate it to an additional signer. When sending to multiple recipients, you also have additional options for how the agreement should be routed: sequentially, in parallel, or using hybrid routing.
Additional information on sending an agreement to multiple signers can be found here. |
This process is exactly as it’s named. This is used for situations where only you need to sign a document and send it to one or more people. For example, you might need to send a signed W-9 or non-disclosure agreement or both to one or more people. You can send the signed document to yourself as long as you don’t use the same email address as you used to login. This is because a copy of the signed document is saved, and you can access it through the Manage tab. Note that the “Fill & Sign” function is found only on the Home page.
Additional information on using “Fill & Sign” can be found here. |
1. Click Fill and sign a document on the Home page.
3. Enter an Agreement Name
4. Drag and drop the file that you want to sign, or click the Add files link and find/attach the document from your local system or networked drive
5. Click Next.
6. The Fill & Sign page loads.
Place any content (Text, checks, signatures) as needed.
7. When finished, click Done
8. The post-sign page displays with options to send the document, download a copy, view the document on the Manage page, or sign another document
This Send in Bulk process allows you to send a document to hundreds of individuals at once. Each signer signs their own copy of the document and these individual agreements are returned to you. This process can be used to collect NDAs, HR documents, or permission slips. The link to Send in Bulk can be found on the Home page.
Send in Bulk recipients can be entered by either adding the email addresses to the “To:” field or by uploading a Comma Separated Value (.CSV) file with the recipient’s information included. The .CSV process allows you to prefill data for each signer, thus giving you the opportunity to customize the field information for each person. For example, you can customize the message in the “Please sign…” emails sent to each signer.
Additional information on using Send in Bulk can be found here. |
Web forms are hosted documents that can be signed by anyone who has access to them. They are ideal for sign-up sheets, waivers, or any document you need many people to access and sign online.
Web forms can be generated in two different forms, as JavaScript or a URL. The JavaScript option provides the code needed to embed the web form into your website. The URL option provides a web address hosted by Acrobat Sign that senders can use to get the document signed. The link to Create web forms can be found on the Home page.
While the web form signing experience is the same as a regular transaction through Acrobat Sign, web forms can only be signed by one signer and counter-signed by anyone you designate.
Mobile devices
Signing is one of the main functions of Acrobat Sign. Anyone can sign via an email link on any web browser on their computer or using their mobile device. If you have an Acrobat Sign account, you can also sign using the “Acrobat Sign manager” iOS or Android native app. You can also initiate signing from the Manage page. Signing is also built into the “Fill & Sign” process.
Additional information on the mobile app functionality can be found here. |
Acrobat Sign supports the latest web browsers on smartphones and tablets that run the iOS or Android operating systems.
Use the intuitive dashboard in Acrobat Sign Manager to access your documents from your mobile device for sending and signing agreements. The new dashboard works well with iOS 9 and iPad Pro. The improved Send experience simplifies the way you send documents for signature.
Acrobat Sign Manager for Android Is localized into 19 languages to match Acrobat Mobile.