Thankfully, there are plenty of virtual tools that can help create electronic signatures. With this technology, people from all over the world can review and sign documents easily. 

Although electronic signatures have been legally viable for more than 20 years, plenty of businesses still aren’t sure of the best approach for incorporating them into their workflow. 

This guide will show you exactly how to create an electronic signature through several different methods and tools. Plus, we’ll go over some of the pros and cons of electronic signatures and answer your most important electronic signature questions. 

This is a complete guide. To skip to the section you’re most interested in, click the links below: 

• What Is an Electronic Signature? 
• Electronic Signature vs Digital Signature
• How to Create an Electronic Signature
  1. How to Create an Electronic Signature in Microsoft Word
  2. How to Create an Electronic Signature in Google Docs
  3. How to Create an Electronic Signature in a PDF
  4. How to Create an Electronic Signature in frevvo
• Electronic Signature FAQ

What Is an Electronic Signature?

An electronic signature is a virtual replacement for a handwritten signature. 

Electronic signatures can take many forms. You might type your name, upload a picture, or create a digital capture of your signature. 

With increased remote work and companies that are dispersed across the globe, more businesses are looking for faster and easier ways to sign contracts, purchase orders, and other important papers. 

Electronic signatures help these business processes move forward by providing a secure and legally compliant signature in a digital medium.

Electronic Signature vs. Digital Signature

It’s important to know the difference between an electronic signature and a digital signature. 

While they sound like the same thing, there are some key distinctions.

An electronic signature is a wet signature replication or any other way of electronically agreeing to a document or record. You might sign with a finger or mouse, type in a unique code, or simply type your name. It’s exactly like signing with pen on paper, except you’ll use digital ink. 

A digital signature is a kind of electronic signature that requires some form of verification. In the most secure version of a digital signature, you’ll obtain a verified digital ID from a secure and compliant provider. Other times, you may need to log in to an account or provide your email address for further verification. 

Essentially, digital signatures are the digital equivalent of notaries. In a world with paper documents, notaries verify identities and certify that the person who signed is the person they claim to be. 

In the modern world of digital documents, digital signatures play the exact same role – verify the identity of the signer and the security of the document.

All digital signatures are also electronic, but not all electronic signatures are digital.

Check out this video for a more detailed breakdown of electronic and digital signatures. 

Here’s an easy way to think about the difference between an electronic signature and a digital signature. An electronic signature is essentially the same as a handwritten signature — you might not verify the identity of the signer, but it’s a more accessible way for vendors and clients to interact. 

Digital signatures always require additional verification. They’re a great choice for signing important documents like contracts. 

Creating Electronic and Digital Signatures

You can create electronic signatures using everyday tools like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or Adobe PDF. Products like Wufoo and frevvo focus on forms and workflow management but also include these simple electronic signatures.

Alternatively, you can look for specialized products like DocuSign, Adobe Sign, and others that offer options for digitally signing documents with different levels of complexity and security. Process management software like frevvo is aimed at forms and workflow automation but includes sophisticated digital signatures at no additional cost.

If you prefer to learn more about secure digital signatures, read this article on how to create a digital signature workflow.

How to Create an Electronic Signature

66% of businesses agree that employees want more digital alternatives in their workflows, and 63% of businesses agree that customers want improved digital alternatives too. 

The data is clear: it’s time to figure out how to bring electronic signatures to your business processes. 

In this section, we’ll show you several options for creating an electronic signature – a simple wet signature reproduction – so employees and customers with any level of technological comfort can take advantage of this alternative.

We’ll describe how to use everyday tools like MS Word as well as a sophisticated BPM platform like frevvo to electronically sign documents.

Regardless of whether you’re using a PDF, a Word document, or a digital document tool, you may need to first create an image that mimics your wet signature or handwritten signature. 

There are three simple ways to do this from any device:

1. Upload a scanned signature: Sign your name clearly on a white sheet of paper using black ink. Then, take a picture of your signature with your phone or scan it to your computer. Save in a secure location. 
2. Type in your signature: If you’re working in a word processor, you can type your signature and adjust the font to look more like a signature than Times New Roman. 
3. Draw your signature on your device: Open a drawing program or app on your computer, tablet, or phone. Then, draw your signature with a stylus, mouse, or finger. Save in a secure location. 

While many people find drawing their signature with a finger or mouse to be the easiest way to create their signature, any of these options can work well. The best choice depends on your document software, device, and office setup. 

How to Create an Electronic Signature in Microsoft Word

When you need a signature in a Microsoft Word document, there are three ways to add one: 

1. Insert a scanned image of a handwritten signature: If you’ve created an image of your handwritten signature according to the instructions above, you can simply add your signature file at the appropriate point. 

To avoid formatting issues, right-click on your signature image, hover over “wrap text,” and select “in line with text.”  

2. Insert a signature line: Depending on your needs, you may choose to add a pre-formatted signature line from the “Insert” menu. This can serve as a placeholder for your signature until you can physically sign it or type your signature in later. 

3. Create your signature in AutoText: You can use Word’s existing tools to create a reusable signature on your personal computer. First, type your name and format it in a signature-style size and font. Next, highlight your signature. Then, click Insert > QuickParts > AutoText > Save to AutoText Gallery.

When you have successfully saved your signature to AutoText, it will appear under the QuickParts menu like this:

How to Create an Electronic Signature in Google Docs

Like in Microsoft Word, you can add an electronic signature in Google Docs by typing your name, adding a signature line, or uploading an image to the document. 

You can also use your mouse or finger to draw your signature by creating a “scribble.” Here’s how: 

1. Put your cursor where you want your signature. 
2. Click Insert > Drawing > New. 
3. Choose “Scribble” from the line options. 

4. Draw your signature with a mouse, finger, or stylus. 
5. Click “Save and Close.” 

Your signature will be saved right where you left your cursor.

There are also many electronic signature add-ons you can use to sign documents in Google Docs. 

How to Create an Electronic Signature in a PDF

You can sign a PDF in a few different ways. Typically, you’ll need a PDF reader or document signing software to view, sign, and save the document. 

Here are a few easily accessible options you can use to sign a PDF: 

1. Adobe Reader: open your PDF in Adobe Reader. Click Sign in the toolbar and follow the prompts. Adobe Reader stores your signature impression so you can use it multiple times. 

2. Preview (Mac only): open your PDF in Preview. Click Show Markup > Sign in the toolbar. Create your signature using the onscreen instructions for a wet signature or signature image. Click Sign again and choose your signature to add to the document. 

3. Microsoft Edge: open your PDF in MS Edge. Click Draw and select your preferred color and thickness. Sign your name using your mouse or trackpad in the appropriate spot. 

While you can sign a PDF with a document signing software like DocuSign or Adobe Sign, it can be expensive.

If you’re already using frevvo for business process management, it’s easy and cost-effective to use it for your electronic signatures as well. 

With frevvo, you don’t actually sign the PDF. Instead, you use one of the electronic/digital signature options (more on that below) and map the signature to one or more PDFs. 

frevvo doesn’t require any hardware cards or other complex infrastructure, and there’s no extra cost to sign documents. 

How to Create an Electronic Signature in frevvo

frevvo supports a variety of electronic signatures (including secure digital signatures) to meet every business need. There are just a few simple steps to creating an electronic signature workflow in frevvo. 

1. Use frevvo’s workflow wizard to answer a few simple questions and generate a fully functional workflow. If you’re building a form, frevvo automatically generates sections with the right type of electronic signature.

2. Customize the form with input fields, signature controls, and any other aspect you wish to change. When it comes to signature controls, you can choose from three different types of electronic signatures:
   1. Signature control (for basic electronic signature)
   2. Secure digital signature with email verification (no login required)
   3. Secure digital signature with identity verification (requires login)

3. Map signatures to PDFs if required. For example, a new hire onboarding workflow might generate a Federal and State W-4. You’ll create a signature field in your forms and workflows, which will be mapped to the signature lines on the generated PDFs. 

4. Deploy your workflow. Before you do so, be sure to test it. Make sure the right signature option is displayed at the right point in the workflow. If needed, set up controls so users can’t proceed without signing the document.
   
   No matter what signature option you choose, there’s no printing, scanning, or any infrastructure required. Users can sign using their finger on a touchscreen device or mouse/trackpad on their desktop computer.

Each time the digital signature workflow completes, frevvo securely stores all documents, including electronic and digital signatures, to prevent any unauthorized changes. 

frevvo can also email signed documents to relevant parties or automatically upload them to a document management system, SharePoint, or other system.

Electronic Signatures FAQ 

In this section, we’ll answer some common questions about electronic signatures.

Are Electronic Signatures Secure? 

In general, yes. Most electronic signature methods are at least as secure as handwritten signatures. 

In fact, 36% of businesses said data security and compliance are huge benefits of digital document processes. 

To be sure your documents and signature are secure, look for features like encryption, SSL security, and PKI technology. 

Are Electronic Signatures Legally Binding?

Electronic signatures have been legally binding in the United States since 2000. 

The Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce (E-SIGN) Act and Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) passed that year, defining what makes a legally binding electronic signature. 

Check out this chart of legally binding criteria and how different types of electronic signatures fulfill them.

Not all document signing software meets all of these criteria, so be sure to find one that does, such as frevvo. 

Where Can I Create an Electronic Signature for Free? 

There are many places online where you can create an electronic signature for free, such as using Google Docs or Microsoft Word.

Simply sign your name on a piece of paper, capture or scan the image, and insert it into a Google or Word document. 

You’ll have to buy a subscription to use frevvo’s BPM software (although you can try frevvo for free for 30 days). If you use it to automate your forms and workflows, there’s no additional cost for electronic signatures. 

Best of all, Frevvo supports everything from wet signatures to fully secure digital signatures with identity verification without additional complexity or spend. 

How Do I Create a Signature Image?

If you have a phone, tablet, or computer and scanner, you can easily create an electronic signature for free. 

You can insert a signature image into a Google doc or Word document to serve as your electronic signature. 

Here’s how: 

1. Sign your name on a clean, white piece of paper with black ink, preferably a marker. 
2. Scan the picture or take a high-quality picture of it. 
3. Email or otherwise send the picture to yourself. 
4. Save the image securely on your computer and add it to documents as needed.

What Is a Digital ID?

A digital ID is a way to verify and secure your identity when digitally signing contracts or other important documents. 

To get one, you’ll need to prove your identity to a verified provider by submitting some personal data. 

A digital ID can provide extra security, but this level of verification generally won’t be necessary for most businesses. Tools like frevvo that use email or login verification as well as other secure technologies will keep your data and signature safe. 

Create Your Own Electronic Signature Now

Electronic signatures are a simple and secure way to sign and share documents when you have a digital-first and globally-dispersed workforce. 

They also save a lot of time and hassle messing with scanners and numerous computer programs. 

Choose one of the electronic signature methods above and build it into your workflow. Or, talk to a business process automation expert at frevvo to learn how you can improve workflows throughout your organization. 

The post How to Create an Electronic Signature (A Guide and Related FAQs) appeared first on frevvo Blog.

A growing number of businesses are moving away from paper-based forms and contracts and embracing electronic forms and digital signatures. These recent advances facilitate workflow automation, which increases efficiency, reduces errors, promotes transparency and slashes business costs. 

In the past, forms that require multiple signatures either involved someone physically carrying or messengering or mailing the document to the next party to sign, or each person printing, signing, scanning and emailing the form to the next party. Getting a document that needed multiple signatures signed could take days or weeks, particularly if the signatories were in different locations. 

Enter live forms with digital signatures and automated approval routing, and that painstaking process can be boiled down to mere minutes. 

Let’s take a closer look.

What Are Digital Signatures?

Digital signatures represent an individual’s verified digital identity, enabling them to digitally sign documents in a way that is valid and binding. Digital signatures use advanced encryption not only to authenticate the signatory’s identity but also to secure the data being authorized by the signature to prevent tampering after the document (or section of the document) has been signed.

It’s a common misconception that digital signatures are not as legally binding as paper-based signatures.

Thanks to the Uniform Electronic Transaction Act (UETA) and the Electronic Signatures and National Commerce Act (ESIGN Act), digital signatures are just as binding as their paper counterparts as long as you abide by the framework established by these acts. frevvo’s forms complies with all the framework’s recommendations, making any signatures collected using them fully legally binding. 

There are two kinds of digital signature, namely a verified digital signature, and a wet signature. 

Verified Identity Digital Signature

In the case of a verified digital signature, the user’s identity has been verified and associated with an encrypted signature on file, so they can sign simply by clicking a button. Typically, this will generate a signature – often just the signatory’s full name and date, although it may be combined with a wet signature image on file. 

Wet Signature

With a wet signature, the user signs their actual signature using a trackpad or touchscreen, and the signatory’s identity is not necessarily verified – although verified users can also choose to use a wet signature. Wet signatures are useful when you want to enable someone to quickly sign without having to create an account or login to verify their identity.

Digital signatures can be easily enabled by adding an electronic signature field to a web form. Once the signature is captured, the image of the signing party’s wet signature is saved alongside the submission data and can be mapped to print-ready PDFs generated from the form. You can also add signatures to PDFs like government W-4 forms. 

Both types of electronic signatures allow for responsive forms that can be accessed and signed on mobile devices including smartphones and tablets, allowing for on-the-go approvals.

Electronic Signature Use Cases for Businesses

Electronic signatures can be used to streamline a wide variety of business processes.

These include:

• Employee contracts
• Sales contracts
• Service level agreements
• Purchase orders
• Change requests
• Travel requests
• PTO approvals
• Onboarding forms
• Parental consent forms
• Curriculum approvals
• Grant applications
• IP licensing agreements
• Non-disclosure agreements
• Lease agreements

Of course, these are only a few examples of the endless number of documents that need to be signed on a daily basis. The good news is that just about any type of form that requires a signature can be integrated into a digital signature workflow.

Best Practices for Building YOUR e-Signature Workflow

In order for your digital signatures to be legally binding, you need to ensure that your signature workflow complies with the framework established by the UETA and ESIGN acts.

Let’s take a closer look at what that entails.

Reliable Identity Verification

It’s vital that the signing party’s identity can be positively confirmed and securely stored or accessed via an integration with a trusted digital identity authority. 

Informed Consent

Signing parties must be advised of the intended use of their legally binding digital signature. The form design should also grant them the option to sign or opt out. 

Form builders that include customizable prompts and allow users to include documentation addenda make it easy to ensure that signing parties have access to full disclosure. 

Electronic Signature Capture

A digital signature solution must provide a means of capturing the signing party’s authorization using a symbol, sound or process that represents the signing party’s consent. A wet signature, whether captured once and stored for future use as directed by the signatory, or entered manually each time, fulfills this requirement.

Tamper-proof Electronic Documents

The idea that digital forms might be altered after the fact to change the terms of a contract or otherwise abuse the signatory’s signature is one of the primary causes for resistance to digital signature adoption. 

Upon signing, the data contained in the agreement or transaction must be secured against future alteration or tampering. Attempts at tampering must also be immediately detectable. frevvo forms use advanced public-private key encryption to ensure that all signed data is securely locked.

Document Backup

Electronically signed agreements must be securely stored for future access to ensure legal and regulatory compliance, facilitate future enforcement, etc. 

Document Access

The signed document recording the transaction must be made available to all parties. This can be done by ensuring that the workflow automatically sends a PDF of the document to all parties or uploads it to a centrally accessible location.

Transaction Audit Trail

The actions involved in the agreement or transaction must be recorded, along with information about the dates at which each step occurred and the order in which they occurred. Workflows with built-in audit records makes this much simpler.

Creating a Digital Signature Workflow with frevvo

With frevvo, creating a digital signature workflow is really straightforward. You simply create a form as usual, drag-and-drop a signature field into the form and configure it according to your needs. 

As mentioned earlier, there are two types of digital signature that can be added to frevvo forms. 

The first is a wet signature capture. This type of signature is highly flexible, but it’s less secure, as the signatory’s identity is not verified and the reliability of the data in the form is not guaranteed. 

This kind of electronic signature is useful for applications where security is not an issue, and for capturing the signatures of external users at the time of form completion, for instance with parent permission forms. This method uses a touchscreen, trackpad or stylus to capture the signatory’s handwritten signature digitally. 

The second electronic signature type is a digital signature that has been verified against the user’s identity. Users can authenticate and set up their digital signature once. Subsequently, the form will automatically apply their digital signature (or pre-uploaded signature image) to any PDFs generated. 

When used, the form pulls the authenticated user’s information into the form and locks the section it has been added to, preventing further changes or tampering. This makes it useful for applications such as contracts and supplier agreements where you want to ensure that the terms of the agreement are not altered after the agreement has been signed. 

How to Create a Wet Signature Workflow with frevvo

Step 1: Create Your Form

Start by using our low code workflow software to create the form for which you want to enable electronic signatures. You can start from scratch or use one of frevvo’s many pre-built templates. Easily customize the form to your needs using the drag-and-drop form builder. 

Step 2: Add A Signature Control

Drag and drop a Signature Control into your form or flow. The signature control can be positioned anywhere in your form.

Step 3: Configure Signature Control Settings

Each Signature Control field can be made Required or Optional. If you’ve set the signature Control to Required, the form cannot be submitted unless the signature has been added.

Step 4: Define Workflow Rules

Design your workflow using frevvo’s no-code visual workflow builder. Establish where this form needs to go when the signing party hits the Submit button, and configure any other rules in accordance with your business needs.

Step 5: The Form is Signed

When the form is used on a touchscreen device like a smartphone or a tablet, the user simply touches the Signature Control to sign the form using their finger or a stylus. On a desktop or laptop, they can simply use the mouse or trackpad. The signature is captured and displayed on the form in the signature control.

6. The Signature Image Is Mapped

The captured image is saved along with the form submission data and is copied to the automatically generated print PDF of the form. 

It can also be mapped and transferred to a custom PDF like a government W-4 form.

How to Create a Secure Digital Signature Workflow with frevvo

Step 1: Create Your Form

The first step is the same as in the wet signature workflow.

Step 2: Add a Digital Signature to a Section of Your Form 

Digital signatures can be attached to any section of the form. Simply navigate to the Security Settings tab for the section you wish to secure and select Text/Signature Image. A Sign This Section button will appear at the bottom of the section in question. 

Step 3: Configure Settings

Ensure that Lock Signed is checked to ensure that the section cannot be changed once it has been signed. If you’ve checked Must Sign, this section MUST be signed in order for the form to be submitted.

Step 4: The Form is Signed

To sign, the signatory simply fills out the required fields and clicks the Sign This Section button. frevvo then displays the user’s name and the date against a green background and makes the section Read Only. 

If you wish to change the data, you must click Edit Section, make your changes, and re-sign it.

The Form is Submitted

When the form is submitted, a digital signature is generated based on the data in the section. If it’s part of a workflow, the data cannot be edited in subsequent steps. When a section has been digitally signed, frevvo will verify that the data has not been altered and display an error if there’s a mismatch.

Once again, the digital signature itself is saved with the submission data. It can be posted to your back-end REST service and is displayed on the automatically generated print PDFs of the form.

Combining Wet and Digital Signatures

You can also combine wet and digital signatures. To do this, select Wet Signature in the section’s Security Settings panel. 

When the user clicks, a lightbox appears, and they can sign with their actual signature. The signature image is then displayed against the green background, a digital signature is generated, and the section is locked.

For more detailed technical information and instructions, see the Electronic Signatures guide in the frevvo documentation. 

Use Case: Services Order Workflow

In the case of a services order workflow, there’s a section where an internal salesperson will first input the order details. This section uses a digital signature (as opposed to a less secure wet signature), since we want the data to be locked and the signature to be verified.

For the end customer signature, we use a regular signature control, which can be signed anonymously. 

The salesperson fills out the order details, provides an email address for the end customer, and signs the order digitally. 

The order is then routed to the customer for approval and signature. The customer receives an email with a link to the order. He can review the order, but cannot change it since it’s digitally signed. 

If approved, the customer can sign the order without needing to log in, using a wet signature.

The workflow then routes back to internal employees or follows the action determined by the workflow in accordance with the business’s needs.

With frevvo’s electronic signature solution, it’s easy to automate your workflows to collect signatures digitally, saving you time and money.

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