How to upload a document to DocuSign

With today’s technology, we can complete an array of important professional duties — like signing and sharing employment agreements, mortgage documents, or vendor contracts — anytime, anywhere, with just a few clicks. And we can thank electronic signature software for making things so easy.

How electronic signatures work

An electronic signature, or e-signature, is the digital equivalent of a wet signature, which is when someone physically signs a document with a pen. E-signatures provide a fast, simple way to sign and authenticate an online document, and they include an added layer of security to reduce signature fraud.

You see: How to upload a document to DocuSign

E-signatures have revolutionized how we do business — streamlining processes, shortening sales cycles, automating workflows, improving the customer experience, and boosting productivity more than ever.

Let’s look at why you would need to upload a document to be signed — as well as software you can use to do it.

Why you might upload a document for signature

E-signature solutions like DocuSign are designed to reduce the cost, time, and environmental waste associated with printing and physically signing documents. In fact, most people use DocuSign to streamline the entire signing process — from document creation to signature collection to document storage.

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But sometimes you need to add an electronic signature to a PDF that you didn’t create in DocuSign. This is especially common in the healthcare, legal, and real estate industries, where you might have legacy paper forms to scan in or if people have filled out a large stack of forms by hand but missed a signature line or two.

By learning how to upload a document to DocuSign, you can quickly get signers the pages they need to complete — instead of starting again from scratch.

How to upload a document to DocuSign

First, let’s look at how to upload a document to DocuSign to electronically sign a PDF.

1. Log in to your DocuSign account.
2. Click Start Now.
3. Click Sign a Document.
4. Click Upload and select the PDF document you’d like to sign.
5. Under Add Recipients, check the I’m the only signer box.
6. Click Sign.
7. Drag and drop your signature from the panel on the left to the desired location(s) on the PDF.
8. Click Finish.

Here’s how to upload a document to DocuSign to collect someone else’s signature:

1. Follow steps 1–4 from the previous section.
2. Drag and drop signature fields for the signer to complete — such as name, date, address, initials, and signature.
3. Type in the signer’s email address.
4. Click Send.

What makes Jotform Sign a great DocuSign alternative

As impressive as DocuSign is, it’s not the only e-signature platform on the market.

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Jotform Sign also helps users of all programming backgrounds create, sign, and share stunning, polished e-documents in minutes. With Jotform Sign, you can choose from hundreds of premade e-sign templates, use drag-and-drop functionality to customize them to match your brand, and easily share them via a link or embed them on your website.

This versatile e-signature tool also allows you to create an audit trail, connect with popular third-party apps, generate real-time reports, build custom apps and workflows, and, of course, upload documents for signature.

How to upload a document to Jotform Sign

Although you now know how to upload a document to DocuSign and complete your part of the signing process, you can also do the same with Jotform Sign.

Just follow these steps:

1. Navigate to your My Forms page in your Jotform account and click the orange Create Form button.
2. Click Create Signable Document.
3. Click Upload Document.
4. Either drag and drop your document into the provided space or click Upload Document and select the file you’d like to upload. (If you upload multiple documents at once, they will be merged into one signable PDF.)
5. Once your document is uploaded, click the green Create Signable Document button.
6. Finally, click the Detect Fields button above the document to automatically scan the document for signature fields. You can also drag and drop the Signature field from the left panel to add your signature to the document or add fields for the signer’s information — like full name, address, and signature — to the PDF.

Sometimes using software to create or edit a PDF is a more time-consuming process than uploading an existing one. But now that you know how to upload a document to DocuSign and Jotform, you’ll be able to collect signatures (or add your own) quickly and securely.