Ever since the release of the iPad, I have resolved to avoid printing documents of any kind on paper. With so many online and software solutions for creating managing, and reading documents, there’s little reason these days— especially in computer-centered environments—to use paper and ink. The website, SignNow and the ad-supported version of Sign-N-Send are two examples of how important documents can be signed and emailed without the need for ink and paper. Let’s check out their features.

SignNow

There are several online and mobile signature apps and services on the market today, but I don’t know of one that is as easy to use as SignNow.com.

First off there’s no online registration to go through. This site only requires your and/or recipient’s email for your signed document to be emailed to you or others. You simply click the Upload & Go button to import your document into the online web application.

I uploaded both a plain RTF document and a PDF, and each appeared in the online application without a problem. I would imagine that large multi-page documents might take longer to upload, but the site doesn’t indicate a page limit for uploading.

SignNow is so cool that it includes a “Try a Sample” document that you can use for practice. Now, here’s the catch, if you want to call it that: you are signing your document online using your computer mouse or trackpad. Thus, the signature is not going to be exactly how you might sign with a pen, nor will the print be as smooth.

I practiced signing with my mouse a few times until it matched as close to how my pen on paper signature would like. The results of trying to sign using my trackpad were not as good. But as the site points out, “Don’t Worry! Even if your signature looks weird, it’s still legally valid.”

The Try a Sample will give you all the practice you need. Just follow the instructions for drawing your signature. There’s also a Type Signature option that for many purposes could work just as well.

In addition, you can add typed text and a sticky note for telling a recipient of your document where to sign.

To complete the process, if you’re the only one signing the document, just provide your email address and the document will be emailed to you in PDF format. If you need a signature of one or more people, use the “Invite a Signer” option. For added security, you can include a password for the document you’re sending. You just need to let the recipient know the password.

Sign-N-Send

Sign-N-Send is a non-registration iPhone and iPad application that you can use for signing digital documents. To get a document for signing into Sign-N-Send you need to email it to your iOS device. As with other mail attached documents, you open the email, and then press and hold your finger on the attached icon. An option for opening the document in Sign-N-Send will appear.

Next, navigate to the page where it needs signing or filling out. Select the Pen tool at the top of the document. Select a pen color and write your signature with your finger or stylus pen.

You may have to practice a few times, so just tap the Eraser, Undo, or Clear button to erase pen marks and start over.

You can also select the Type tool to type text on the document as well.

Once you’re done, you can email the document, send it Dropbox or to another application that supports it, or print it wirelessly from your iPad.

Sign-N-Send also allows you to save and manage your documents for later use.  You can also create documents with the application.

The free version of this app stamps your document with the Sign-N-Send ad at the top of the page, so if you like and need to use the app a lot, this free version is useful for testing. The non-ad version is $1.99.

Let us know what you think of these tools. If you have tried and liked similar online or mobile applications, please share them with our readers.

Image Credit: Shutterstock.com

Thankfully, there’s people out there who have thought about this problem and have come up with a handy solution for us all. HelloFax is digital signature software that lets you upload the document and add a digital signature, and then it will fax the file or email it to your destination. There’s no need to print or scan anything, plus it can be done in moments. It’s almost too useful for words.

It’s always great to see new companies solving everyday problems in a creative, workable manner. The HelloFax digital signature software is such a revelation because it allows for a wide variety of file formats to be uploaded and for signatures to be added in a number of quick and useful ways. The overall result is a service which solves your problem quickly and painlessly — and that’s the best sort there is.

Using HelloFax

When you visit the HelloFax site, you’re presented with a simple interface which guides you through the process. You really can’t go wrong. There’s nothing to download – everything is controlled through the website interface.

Each user is entitled to 5 free faxes (and afterwards there are reasonable rates available), but email will always be free.

The only way anyone will know you’ve used HelloFax is if you ask for a cover letter to be created. Otherwise, your documents will be sent exactly as you see them.

• First enter the US fax number or email address of where you need to send the document. At this stage you may only enter one recipient at a time. You can add a cover letter to the document if you like.
• Secondly, upload the document to HelloFax. They accept just about any type of file format, including .doc, .docx, .pdf, .tif, .ppt, .jpeg, .png, .xls, .txt and .gif. And really, most other file types can be exported as a PDF or JPG anyway, so you can always export and upload.
• The third step is optional, and allows you to add a signature or any other markings required on your form if need be. There’s a couple of different ways to do this. One option is to use your mouse to create a digital signature. For most of us though, this isn’t going to turn out so well. People using tablets may have more success using this method. Another way of getting a signature uploaded is to sign a piece of paper and take a photo with your phone. You can send the photo to HelloFax, they clean it up a little and isolate the signature for you.

Once you’ve created or uploaded a signature it’s simple to add it to the document. HelloFax lets you resize the signature to fit the document, then position it in exactly the right place.

Once your signature is in place, you’re ready to send. The fax or email is sent off directly.

Receiving Faxes

If you decide to sign up with HelloFax, you’ll also be able to receive faxes through the service.

More Online Office Companions

If you’re a freelancer or you just like to use web services for your everyday office needs, here’s a few more articles you should check out.

• 6 Useful Desktop Time Tracking Software
• Doris — A Minimalist Productivity App for the Task Masters
• FocusBoosterLive: Work Efficiently with This Online Timer
• Hourly Rate Calculator: Easily Determine Hourly Rate Online

Did you give HelloFax a try? What did you think? How can it be improved? Let us know in the comments!

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It’s no surprise then that you can now electronically sign documents, using your email address as verification of identity. Many similar online tools require payment for the service, but the Adobe eSignatures beta is completely free (at least for now).

So if you’re half way across the world, printer-phobic and need to sign a contract (as this writer has recently experienced) you might want to try convincing your boss to use Adobe eSignatures.

Collecting Signatures

This service cannot be used to just sign any document, and if it’s your job to collect the signatures you’re going to need a PDF document (or at least the last “sign here” page) exported using Adobe Acrobat.   PDF files created by freeware alternatives, such as CutePDF or PDF995, won’t work.  The PDF file needs to have the “signing” digital permission enabled and it seems that only the paid Adobe Acrobat can achieve this.   In Adobe Reader, you can see the status of the digital restrictions by going to File –>Properties and then going to the security tab.

If you see “Signing: Allowed” then you’re good to go with eSigning.   If it says “not allowed” then you are out of luck. That’s pretty much the only catch, and once you’ve got your “signable” PDF the rest is as easy as pie.

If you’ve not already got one, you’re going to need to register an account with Adobe in order to collect your signatures. Once you’ve signed in you should see the document upload screen.

You can also add a short description to the document, handy if you’ve got lots of things to sign. On the next screen you’ll have an opportunity to input the email addresses of those required to sign the document.  Be careful that you don’t input the wrong address by mistake because there seems to be no way to delete a signatory once it has been sent out.

Once you’ve included everyone select a due date, add a custom message if you think your counter-signatories need a bit more information and sign the document yourself (more on that shortly). It will then be emailed to each party specified, and a signature will be requested.

You can now monitor your document by clicking the Awaiting Your Signature link and choosing the correct PDF. You will be informed who has signed, and how long they’ve got left to do so.

Signing Documents

Chances are you’re probably going to be the one who has to sign the PDF document, rather than request signatures (unless you’re in higher places). This is even easier, though you are going to need to sign up for an Adobe ID before you can sign.

You’ll probably have received an email notifying you of a document awaiting your signature, and within that email will be a link.

Click the link in the email to sign in and bring up the document you’ve been requested to sign. On a completely unrelated note, please remember to read what you’re signing. You don’t want to go signing your life away to the devil or anything.

Once you’ve read the document you might want to take a look at the Signatories box to the right. This contains the email addresses of everyone required to sign, and whether they’ve responded yet or not.

To sign the document with a default signature just click Sign. Congratulations, you have verified your identity using your email address and Adobe ID. You’ve also saved some trees and given the postal service a break.

Custom Signatures

If you’re a bit pickier about your signature and would actually like it to look like your real signature then you have the option to create a different profile. You can upload an image by clicking the Signature Profiles link to the left of your name.

You could use a graphics tablet or even Paint (good luck), but I chose to scrawl on some white paper with a blue Sharpie and took a picture with my camera phone.

A custom image won’t really add that much more validity to your eSignature, after all it works by verifying an individual through an email address. Still, it’s sometimes nice to add a personal touch.

Conclusion

If you need to sign something quickly and find organising trans-continental post a bit of a headache, Adobe eSignatures will probably do the trick. You’re going to need Adobe Acrobat (or a helpful friend with a copy) and about five minutes of your time.

Have you used an eSignature service before? Will you use one in future? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Image Credit – Shutterstock