Electronic signatures

primedocs documents can be prepared for electronic signature services such as DeepSign, Adobe Acrobat Sign or DocuSign: the template contains invisible placeholder texts at the signature positions, which are preserved in the generated document. The signature service places the signature fields at these markers. The actual signing process (dispatch, identification, signature) runs entirely at the respective service; primedocs needs no dedicated integration for this.

How it works

1. Insert the service-specific placeholder text at the desired signature position in the template.
2. Format the placeholder to be invisible (e.g. white font colour in a small font size) so that it does not disturb the layout.
3. Insert dynamic values such as the email address of the signing person into the placeholder via primedocs fields — for example from the active profile or an additional profile (AdditionalProfile) chosen in the form — so that every generated document contains the actual recipient data.
4. Submit the generated document (Word or PDF) to the signature service. Depending on the service and use case:
   • manually via its web interface,
   • via an Office add-in of the service (directly from Word),
   • automatically through a third-party system (e.g. a GEVER), or
   • automatically from primedocs via Output Management using InvokeUrl — provided the service offers an API (see DocuSign).

warning

The placeholders only work as machine-readable text. If the document is scanned or converted into an image, they are not recognised. During PDF conversion by primedocs they are preserved as text.

DeepSign

DeepSign recognises the placeholders automatically on upload of the document — without further configuration and regardless of the submission path. In practice the document is usually uploaded directly from Word via the DeepSign Office add-in; the web interface or a third-party system (e.g. a GEVER) work just as well.

Example: signature field for a signing person with signing order 1:

#deepsign#max.muster@example.com;1#

Instead of a hard-coded email address, the placeholder can be assembled dynamically via a Fields field — for example from the active profile of the generating user (Profile.User.…) or from an additional profile (AdditionalProfile) chosen in the form. This prepares the document for signing on behalf of the person actually signing:

<FieldsConfiguration>
  <Fields>
    <Text Name="DeepSignPlaceholder">
      <Code><![CDATA[
        function main() {
          // Additional profile "MainSigner" from the Forms dialog, otherwise the active profile
          const signer = $("Forms.MainSigner");
          const email = signer !== null ? signer.Email : $("Profile.User.Email");
          return "#deepsign#" + email + ";1#";
        }
      ]]></Code>
    </Text>
  </Fields>
</FieldsConfiguration>

This field is inserted at the signature position as a placeholder in the template and formatted invisibly there (e.g. white font colour in a small font size): it is not visible in the layout, but in the generated document it is preserved as machine-readable text that DeepSign evaluates.

note

The field name for the email address (Email) depends on the profile configuration of the datasource.

All placeholder codes (signature standard, jurisdiction, deadlines, reminders) are described in the DeepCloud guide Placeholder texts for automation.

Adobe Acrobat Sign

Acrobat Sign converts text tags into form and signature fields when the document is sent, regardless of the submission path (web interface or API). The tags define the field type, the signing person and further properties directly in the document text.

Example: signature field for the first signing person:

{{Sig_es_:signer1:signature}}

As with DeepSign, the text tags can be generated dynamically via a Fields field and formatted invisibly. For submission the web interface, an Office add-in or the API are available — the tags are parsed in all cases.

The syntax is described in the Acrobat Sign text tag guide.

DocuSign

DocuSign does not automatically recognise placeholder texts when uploading manually via the web interface. There are three paths for DocuSign:

Path	Description
Document Custom Fields with AutoPlace	A DocuSign administrator defines reusable fields with AutoPlace text (the placeholder text) in the DocuSign account. When sending, the sender applies these fields; DocuSign places them at every occurrence of the text.
PDF form fields	If the uploaded PDF contains form fields (AcroForm), DocuSign offers to convert these into signature and input fields.
API integration with anchor texts	When creating an envelope via the DocuSign eSignature API, AutoPlace (anchorString) places the signature fields at the occurrences of the placeholder text. The placeholders defined in the template are directly suitable as anchors.

:::note Active integration from primedocs Dispatch to DocuSign can be automated via Output Management: an InvokeUrl command creates an envelope via the DocuSign eSignature API that contains the generated document and uses the template placeholders as anchorString. This is a customer-specific configuration — our Helpdesk will support you if needed. :::

Other services

Services without text-placeholder recognition (e.g. Skribble, Swisscom Sign, Certifaction) position signature fields via their API (coordinates) or via predefined PDF form fields. For these services too: primedocs delivers the finished document, and the signing process runs at the service. If the service offers an API, the handover can — as with DocuSign — be automated customer-specifically via Output Management using InvokeUrl.