This article discusses how to set up a Vinesign template, how to create a “job” and send a document in Vinesign, and how to use Vinesign in Filevine.

Vinesign is a tool for filling and signing PDF documents that allows users to text or email clients important documents that require their signature. With the client’s ability to sign the document from their phone, you significantly speed up the signature collection process.

Before you can follow any of these steps, you will need to sign up for Vinesign. For instructions on signing a Vinesign document, read Using Vinesign as a Signee. 

Setting Up a Template
-Best Practices
-Creating a Template
Sending a Document
Signing a Document
Using Vinesign with Filevine

Setting Up a Template

The first step to using Vinesign is creating a template document. This document can be saved and sent to multiple people. Before you get started making a template, read over our best practices below.

Best Practices

Vinesign can upload one PDF document at a time. It does not support other file types, like Word. Vinesign can send separate copies of the same template to multiple recipients, but only one person can sign the document through Vinesign at a time.

Vinesign offers customs fields and auto-fields. The four auto-fields are for signatures, initials, printed names, and dates. The signature and initials auto-fields will allow your recipients to draw their signature or initials. The printed name and date auto-fields will be filled in automatically and will not need to be entered by the recipient.

To create a custom field, click “+ New” next to the auto-field buttons, and enter a custom field prompt. When your recipient is filling a field, they will only have the field prompt to let them know what they are signing, so make sure that your custom field prompts are accurate and easy to understand. 

When you are placing and sizing your custom fields, keep in mind that enter text will appear in the lower left corner of the text box you place. 

The more fields required within a request for a signature, the less likely your customer will follow through. Vinesign is not recommended for intake forms. For best results, keep the number of fields to a minimum, and test out the template yourself by sending it to your own email before sending it to clients.

You can use Filevine to generate PDFs that already include client information. Download those PDFs from the client’s project and upload to Vinesign.

Creating a Template

1. Navigate to the “Create a Template” page. Click the “Templates” tab at the top of the main page in Vinesign. Next, click the “Create a template” button at the top right. This will take you to a page asking you to upload a document. You can also create a template by clicking the “Jobs” tab and then clicking “Create a job.”
   
   
   
   
2. Upload your PDF document. Click the left side of the box to browse your files or the right side to drag and drop your file. Choose the PDF document you would like to use as your template. Once the file has uploaded, click the orange “Next” button.
   Errors will occur if your PDF 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.
3. Create and place fields. Choose from the automatic fields, or create your own fields, then move the text box that appears in the document where you’d like the information to be entered. Fields can be moved around by clicking and dragging them, and can be made bigger or smaller by using the small arrows that appear on the edges of a text box field. For more information on fields, read the “Best Practices” section above.
   
   
   
   
4. Send or Save. When you’ve added all fields, click the orange “Next” button. You will be asked how you would like to proceed, and you can choose to either save, send, or save and send the template. Saving the template will allow you to use the template you’ve just created for other recipients. 

Sending a Document​

The messages that Vinesignsends out to customers are called “jobs.” These messages will be sent as both a text and an email to your recipient. The following steps will show how to create and send a job:

1. Navigate to the “Create a job” page. On the main page of Vinesign, click on the “Jobs” tab in the top left. Then, click the orange “Create a job” button in the top right.
2. Choose a template. In the “Create a job” page, either upload a new document to create a template, or pick a template that you have already created. If you upload a new PDF, you will need to create a new template. Consult the section above for more information on this. If you pick a template, you will be taken to the next step.
3. Fill out the form. In the “Recipient Info” section, fill out all text boxes. If you have integrated with Filevine, you will be able to choose a project to associate with this job by filling the “Associate with a Project” text box. If you would like to send separate copies of a document to multiple recipients, click the “Add Recipient” box. To have your recipient authenticate via a photo, click the box next to “Require gesture authentication.” When you’ve finished, click the orange “Send” button.
   
   

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, you can check the box next to “Require gesture authentication.” If you do so, we recommend you let your signer know you'll be requiring a photo.

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.

Signing a Document

It’s important to know how the Vinesign document will appear to your recipient. Here are some key points they should remember when signing a Vinesign document:

• Some fields fill automatically. As mentioned above, the date and name auto-fields as well as any custom fields named “phone” or “email” will be filled automatically, and cannot be filled out by the recipient.
• A field will be seen without the surrounding text. When a recipient clicks on a field to fill it, the field text box will take up the entire screen, with the field name or prompt at the top. This means it is important for any custom field names to be accurate and specific, and for any PDF document not to contain too many fields.
• Fields turn green when they are filled. Unclicked fields are orange, and fields that have been clicked or “inserted” are green. When recipients click a field, they should immediately fill it out correctly and fully, as they will not be able to preview their information without clicking on the field again.

Once your document has been signed, you will see a Signed icon next to the job name in the dashboard under the “Jobs” tab. You will also be notified via email.

Using Vinesign with Filevine

Vinesign can be integrated with Filevine so that jobs created in Filevine can be associated with projects and contacts within a Filevine project. To integrate your Vinesign account with Filevine, contact your Filevine representative and consult the article on signing up for Vinesign. For the ability to create and send Vinesign jobs from a Filevine project, read Vinesign Integration in Filevine.

Once Vinesign has been integrated with an Org in Filevine, you will see an “Associate with a Project” field and an "Associate with a Filevine Contact" field in the “Recipient Info” form whenever you send a document. These fields act as a search for any projects or contacts in your Org, respectively. Search and select the project or contact that you would like this document to be associated with.

 

When a job you’ve chosen to associate with a project is signed, that job will appear as a note in your Activity Feed with the hashtag “#vinesign." The signed document will be attached, and can be previewed and downloaded from the note. The note also includes details like the sender, the signer, the signer’s information, and a link to the signed document. 

Contact Field

When you choose a contact using the “Associate with a Filevine Contact” field, the contact’s name, email address, and phone number will be pulled from the contact card information in Filevine into the fields below.

Vinesign will pull the top-most email and phone number from these lists that is filled out in the contact card: