Gone are the days of the printer running out of ink and mountains of paper documents. Efficient and secure solutions are paramount in today’s digital age, particularly when it comes to document signing. SigningHub stands at the forefront of this domain, offering unparalleled convenience, robust security measures and comprehensive adherence to legal standards.
This guide dives into the benefits of SigningHub and empowers you to confidently sign PDFs with our platform. We’ll explore different signature types and guide you through every step of the PDF signing process. Let’s get started.
Understanding signature types
Before we dive into how to sign a PDF with SigningHub, let’s clarify the different types of electronic signatures:
- Simple Electronic Signature (SES): This is often a typed name or scanned image of your handwritten signature. While convenient and quick, it offers limited legal weight.
- Basic Electronic Signatures (BES): This is a step up from Simple Electronic Signatures that ensures the integrity of a document, making them suitable for everyday business transactions that don't require advanced or qualified levels of security.
- Advanced Electronic Signature (AES): This signature involves strong authentication and links to the signature of the signer. This ensures non-repudiation (in other words, proof you signed).
- Qualified Electronic Signature (QES): The most secure electronic signature type. A QES meets strict EU (European Union) regulations and offers maximum legal validity. We offer integrations with QES providers.
Learn more about the different types of eSignatures.
Signing PDFs with SigningHub: A step-by-step guide
- Create a SigningHub account
Sign up for a free trial or choose a paid plan that suits your needs. We’ve designed SigningHub to meet the needs of individuals and businesses alike. Take the platform for a trial run to see how it can make your document workflows more efficient and secure. - Upload your PDF
When a “New Workflow” is started, a window will pop up that will allow you to drag and drop your PDF directly into the platform. You can also choose to upload your document by choosing an option in the top left corner of the box. Upload directly from your device or cloud storage provider, such as:- Google Docs
- Dropbox
- OneDrive
- Add signers & roles and set the signing order
Once you’ve dragged and dropped or uploaded your document from your chosen source, SigningHub allows you to add the required signers, their email addresses and their roles in the document.
In addition, along the top of the box, you’ll see placeholders, the ability to upload a CSV file of signers and to set the signing order. This is handy for situations where signers need to sign in a specific order.
With all your signers added, their roles applied and the signing order set (if required), click “Next”. - Add signature fields
You’ll now be looking at a preview of your document. You’ll see several field options available such as name, date/time, initials and signature fields to add to your document on the right side.
Add signatures and/or fields to the document where you want your recipients to sign and complete information. You can customise the size of the box to suit your document. - Choose signature type
You have the flexibility to select the signature type for each signature box, or you can opt for the default setting. This includes the choice of Advanced and Qualified Electronic Signatures, as previously detailed, to guarantee your document's security and non-repudiation.
This feature is particularly crucial for sensitive documents such as contracts, financial records, and government documents, where the integrity and legal validity of the signature are paramount.
- Add security and workflow options
For advanced needs, explore options such as password or OTP protection, document access expiry dates and multi-factor authentication. These are accessed by clicking on the cog wheel on the right side of the document under the header “Recipients”. - Send for signing
Review your settings one last time, then click “Share Now” in the top right corner of the document. Recipients will receive an email inviting them to review and sign the document. - Track document workflow progress
SigningHub provides a real-time dashboard where you can track the signing status of your PDF document workflow. You can send reminders and download the completed document once all signatures are collected. - Secure storage and audit trail
SigningHub ensures the secure storage of your documents, employing advanced encryption to safeguard against unauthorised access., it also provides a comprehensive audit trail detailing every action taken on a document for complete transparency and legal compliance.
Securely sign PDFs with SigningHub
SigningHub is more than just an electronic and digital signature platform. We offer:
- Support for multiple document types
SigningHub accommodates a wide array of standard document formats, including Word documents and Excel spreadsheets, alongside less conventional types like CAD files and XML documents. Upon upload, documents are seamlessly converted to the PDF/A format, ensuring their suitability for long-term archival without compromising on accessibility or integrity. - Integrations
SigningHub is meticulously engineered to integrate smoothly with your current workflows and applications, establishing seamless connections with widely-used platforms like SharePoint and Salesforce. Furthermore, it features an advanced REST API, enabling tailored integrations with your existing business applications, thus enhancing operational efficiency and flexibility.
Check out our full list of integrations on the SigningHub Marketplace. - Custom branding
SigningHub also offers the ability for customer branding, allowing you to customise the SigningHub interface with your colours and logos for a professional touch. - Bulk signing
Bulk signing is one of the most popular SigningHub features for enterprises and organisations. If you frequently sign dozens or even hundreds of documents, SigningHub can streamline the process. - Security features
Security, data privacy and protection of intellectual property is one of our top priorities. SigningHub offers audit trails, tamper-proof electronic signatures, two-factor authentication, encryption and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) compliance to ensure the long-term security and validation of your documents.
Go digital with SigningHub’s PDF signatures
With SigningHub, signing PDFs is secure, efficient and legally binding. It’s intuitive but has advanced features, making it ideal for all users.
Whether you're signing a rental agreement, a permission slip for your child’s school trip or managing complex workflows, SigningHub allows you to navigate signing documents online with confidence.
Beyond this guide, SigningHub offers extensive resources and support. So, sign up today and experience the future of digital signing.
