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Getting started

Send your first document for signature in five minutes.

Step 1 — Sign up​

Go to doc-e-sign.com/sign-in and enter your email address. Doc E Sign will send you a sign-in link — no password required. Click the link to access your dashboard.

Step 2 — Upload your document​

From the dashboard, click New envelope. Drag your PDF onto the upload area, or click to browse for it.

Doc E Sign accepts PDF files up to 20 MB. If your document is in another format (Word, Google Docs), export it to PDF first.

Signature field placement

In the current version of Doc E Sign, the signature field is placed automatically at the bottom of the last page of your document. If you need the signature in a specific location, see Preparing documents for signing for how to structure your PDF.

Drag-and-drop field placement is coming in a future release.

Step 3 — Enter the signer's details​

Enter the signer's email address and a title for the document. The title appears in the signing invitation email.

Set an expiry for the signing link — the default is 5 days. After the link expires, the signer will no longer be able to complete signing.

Click Send to send the signing invitation.

Step 4 — The signer's experience​

The signer receives an email with a link to sign the document. The link takes them to a signing page where they:

  1. Review the document
  2. Read and accept the signing consent notice
  3. Type their name as their signature
  4. Submit

The signing page works on desktop and mobile. No Doc E Sign account is required — the signer does not need to create an account or install anything.

Step 5 — The completed PDF​

Once the signer submits, Doc E Sign:

  1. Embeds the typed signature and the signing date into the PDF
  2. Appends an audit page with the document fingerprints, the signed event log, and offline verification instructions
  3. Stores the completed PDF securely

Both you and the signer receive a download link for the completed PDF by email.

What the completed PDF contains​

The audit page appended to every completed PDF includes:

  • Original document fingerprint — a SHA-256 hash of the document exactly as you uploaded it, proving nothing was changed before the signer saw it
  • Signing chain fingerprint — a SHA-256 hash chain across the complete signing process, proving the signed document and event log are unaltered
  • Signed event log — a chronological record of every event: when the envelope was created, when the invitation was sent, when the link was opened, when consent was given, when the signature was submitted, and when the document was sealed
  • QR code — links to doc-e-sign.com/verify for online verification
  • Step-by-step offline verification instructions — for verifying the document without Doc E Sign

To understand what the fingerprints prove and how verification works, see How it works.

Next steps​