How to send a document for electronic signature

To send a document for electronic signature you need three things: the file, the email addresses of the people who must sign, and a tool that records who signed what and when. Upload the document, drop a signature field where each person signs, add their email, and send. Each signer gets a link, signs in the browser, and everyone receives the completed copy.

No printing, no scanning and — in most countries — no difference in legal standing compared to ink on paper, provided the tool keeps an audit trail. That last part is what separates a real e-signature from a picture of your signature pasted into a PDF.

The steps

1. Prepare the final version of the document. Once a signature request is out, changing the text means starting over — that is by design, because the signature is bound to the exact file.
2. Upload the file to your e-signature tool. PDF is the safest format; DOCX is usually converted automatically.
3. Add the signers in the order they should sign. Sequential order matters when one person signs only after another has approved.
4. Place the fields: a signature box for each signer, plus date, initials or text fields where you need them filled in.
5. Write a short message explaining what the document is. A request with no context is the most common reason people ignore it.
6. Send. Each signer receives a link to sign in the browser — they do not need an account with your provider.
7. Track the status. You should see sent, viewed and signed for every recipient, and be able to send a reminder without resending the whole request.

What makes it legally binding

In the EU (eIDAS) and the US (ESIGN and UETA) an electronic signature is valid as long as you can show intent to sign, consent to do business electronically, and a record that ties the signature to the signer and to the document. In practice, that comes down to the audit trail your tool produces.

• Who signed — name and email address, verified through the unique link they received.
• When — a timestamp for every action: opened, viewed, signed.
• What — a hash or copy of the exact document version that was signed.
• From where — the IP address of each signing event.

Some documents are excluded almost everywhere: wills, certain family-law papers, and some property transfers. When the stakes are high, check the rules for your jurisdiction before you rely on an electronic signature.

Common mistakes

• Sending a draft. Any edit after sending invalidates the request — proofread first.
• Forgetting a field. A signer who cannot find where to sign will usually just close the tab.
• Using an image of a signature in a PDF. It looks the same and proves nothing: there is no record of who put it there.
• No deadline. An open-ended request has no urgency; set an expiry date and let the tool remind people.

Doing it in Ettex

Ettex Signature covers the same flow: upload, place fields, send, track. The audit trail is kept with the document, and signers do not need an Ettex account — they open the link and sign. Fillable PDFs work the same way, so a contract template you use every month can be prepared once and reused.