Vinesign allows users to text or email a .pdf document for clients to securely fill and sign. The clients’ ability to sign the document from their phone significantly speeds up the signature collection process. 

This article discusses how to create a Vinesign template and how to send a job to be filled and signed. To learn more about managing your Vinesign account and adding or changing users, read Set Up Vinesign.

The steps for creating and sending a job in Vinesign include:

1. Upload a File
2. Design a Template
3. Review and Save
4. Sending a Job

Upload a File

The first step to using Vinesign is uploading a file. This file can be saved in Vinesign as a template to be used in multiple jobs. If you have already uploaded and saved the template you’d like to edit, you can begin designing your template.

To upload, click the Templates tab at the top of the page. On the templates page, select Create a template.

On the upload page, drop files in the dropbox, or click in the dropbox to select a .pdf, .docx, or .doc from your computer files. When the file has uploaded, click Next to continue on to designing the template.

File Types and Limitations

Vinesign can upload one .pdf, .docx, or .doc file at a time. Docx and .doc files will be converted to a .pdf upon upload. Vinesign does not support other file types.

For best performance, we recommend uploading files of no more than 5 MB.

Errors will occur if your file is too large or unoptimized. If you encounter problems uploading your .pdf, try optimizing the .pdf for “minimal size” or saving it to the .pdf/a format through Adobe Reader.

Design a Template

To edit or design a template, select the Templates tab from the top of the page. Hold the pointer over the template you’d like to edit, then click Edit.

Designing a template includes adding signers as needed, and then choosing and placing fields on the document. In the signer panel on the left, you can manage and add signers and add fields. Adding a custom Text Field will open the Field Properties panel on the right, where you can view the new custom field options.

Manage Signers

In the left-hand panel, click the Signer 1 dropdown to add, switch, or manage signers. Signers and their assigned fields are color-coded for ease of use, so Signer 1’s fields will appear yellow in the document, Signer 2’s blue, and so on. 

In the dropdown menu, you can add additional signers, manage signers, and switch between them. Signers are named Signer 1, Signer 2, and so on by default, but signer names can be changed by clicking Manage Signers from the dropdown. For example, a user might name Signer 1 “Client” and Signer 2 “Attorney.”

For Multisign jobs, the document will be sent to signers in the order that they are added. The order of signers cannot be changed once they have been added, so use caution when determining which fields are assigned to which signer.

Signers can also be removed in the Manage Signers modal. Removing a Signer will also remove all of their assigned fields. Only the last signer can be removed, so use caution when adding signers. For example, if you’ve added four signers, and you’d like to remove Signer 2, along with all of their fields, you would first need to remove Signer 4 and Signer 3.

Add Standard Fields

Vinesign offers four standard fields: Signature, Initials, Name, and Current Date. The client will be able to draw or--if you choose--enter or upload their signature and initials for the respective standard fields. Name and date fields will be filled automatically and will not need to be entered by the recipient.

To add a standard field, select the signer you’d like to assign the field to from the Signers dropdown, scroll to the correct page in the document, and drag the field to the desired place. Fields cannot be dragged across document pages, so be sure to scroll to the desired page before clicking to add the fields.

Add Custom Text Fields

To create a custom field, click + Text Field in the left-hand panel. The field will be added to the Document Custom Fields below, where it can be used again or for other signers. 

Once a custom field has been created, you can adjust the name and other options in the right-hand Field Properties panel, which will open on the right. 

Fields can be renamed, made read-only, or marked required. Rename the field to make it easy for you to know what it is. Make a field read-only by selecting Signer cannot change value and entering a preset value. Select Signer must enter a value to make the field required.

If your Vinesign account is linked to a Lead Docket account and you’d like to auto-fill the field, enter a merge code for the field. Learn more about adding merge codes for Lead Docket.

Review and Save

Once the signers and fields for the template have been created and set, click Next to continue to the Review & Save page. Here, you can create or edit the template name, preset the signers, and change signature settings. 

When you have named the template and added these options, you have the choice of either saving the template and returning to the Templates page, or saving and continuing on to the Send page.

Preset Signers

Click the dropdown caret next to Preset Signers to set a specific user for any of the signers. Setting a signer for the template means that the name, contact information, and authentication settings for that signer will always be automatically filled when sending the template. 

If you have a template that will always need to be signed and filled by the same user, presetting that user as a signer will save you time. 

Signature Settings

Click the dropdown caret next to Signature Settings to choose your signature color and allow additional signature options like a typed signature. 

Message Settings

Customize the message for the signees under the Message Settings section. Custom messages are saved as part of the template when added in the Review & Save page. To create a custom message for a single job, without saving the message to the template, edit the message in the Send page when sending a job. A custom message can also be set for your entire organization in the Settings section.

To change the language of the default message to Spanish, select Spanish. Selecting Spanish changes the signee experience (prompts, buttons, and confirmation email) to Spanish as well. 

Sending a Job

The messages that Vinesign sends out to customers are called jobs. These messages can be sent as both a text and an email to your recipient. Learn more about how your document will appear to the signee.

To navigate to the Send page, select the Jobs tab from the top of the page and then click Create a job. Choose an already-created template or upload a new file and design a new template.

Once your document has been sent, it will appear in the dashboard under the Jobs tab. Each job will have an icon next to it indicating whether the document has been signed. You will also be notified by email after each signer has completed the document.

Job Information

Fill out the Job Information section. If you have integrated with Filevine, you can choose a project to associate with this job by filling the Associate with a Project text box.

Signers/Recipients

Fill out the Signers or Recipients section. If the job template only has one signer, you will have the option to send separate copies of a document to multiple recipients. Click Add Recipient to add one recipient at a time, or click Import Recipients to import a .csv file of up to 1,000 different recipients with Bulk Send. These options are not available for templates that already include multiple signers.

For a template with multiple signers, fill out the information for each signer. Learn more about multisign sending.

Signature Settings

The signature settings you find on the Review & Save page are also available here.

Click the dropdown caret next to Signature Settings to choose your signature color and allow additional signature options like a typed signature. 

Message Settings

The message settings you find on the Review & Save page are also available here. Edit the custom message in the Send page to create a message for a single job without saving it to the template. To save a customized message as part of a template, save the custom message in the Review & Save page.

To change the language of the default message to Spanish, select Spanish. Selecting Spanish changes the signee experience (prompts, buttons, and confirmation email) to Spanish as well. 

Gesture Authentication

To have a recipient authenticate via a photo, select Require gesture authentication for that recipient in the Signers section.

Gesture authentication provides an extra level of authentication by requiring your recipient to upload a photo of them making a randomized gesture. Vinesign authenticates signatures in many ways, but if you would prefer this additional level of authentication, select Require gesture authentication. If you do so, we recommend you let your signer know you'll be requiring a photo.

Multisign Sending

When a multiple-signer job is sent out, the job will be sent to the first signer. Once they have signed and filled the document, the job will be sent to the second signer, and so on, until the document has been filled by all signers. The creator of the job will be notified via email whenever a signer completes the document. 

Once all signers have filled the document, a copy of the completed document will be sent to all parties.