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I am creating a web app that has the following requirements:

There will be multiple administrators working for a tenant. The administrators will upload a document that needs to be signed and select the recipients and click send. The recipients will receive a link by email, click it, log in, view the document and sign it.

I was looking into third party developer API's to help with this such as DocuSign but a few questions/concerns came to mind.

I am going to assume that uploading and setting the areas to sign would need to be done through the docusign site. So would each administrator have to login in to the single tenant docusign account and upload their documents? Seems like it wouldn't be possible.

As an alternative I was thinking about staying away from the third parties entirely and just using an HTML signature pad under the document. However, with this technique the actual document would never be signed so for printing purposes it would look bad.

If anyone can shine some light on this topic that would be great. I am trying to figure out what my options are.

Blake Rivell
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4 Answers4

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I am going to assume that uploading and setting the areas to sign would need to be done through the docusign site.

Actually, you can do that programmatically :)

I don't recall the details, but I do remember creating a template (*.docx file) of the document that would be uploaded. The template had placeholders for where the signature goes. I believe I used something like {{signature}} as the placeholder. Then, in your code you use the DocuSign API to upload the document and template; There's a way to tell the API what placeholders you used for the various fields.

The signing happens on the DocuSign website, but you can set up the document through the API.

Emmanuel Rosa
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  • Let's say there is a random document made by an administrator in Word with a single signature line at the bottom. They would like to upload it through my application, select recipients in my application, click send, the recipients get an email with a link, they click the link, login and view/sign. Are you saying the creator (administrator) of the doc would simply need to be trained to put a {{signature}} field on their doc? Also what happens if an administrator has a copy of an old PDF document with a signature line at the bottom? – Blake Rivell Dec 02 '18 at 08:04
  • Yes, the administrator can simply place the _anchor text_ in the Word document. That's the simplest way to add fields. As for the PDF, you'd have to use page coordinates to specify where the signature field is, as mentioned by Larry. – Emmanuel Rosa Dec 02 '18 at 09:29
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(I work for DocuSign.) Using DocuSign or another 3rd party product to handle the signing ceremony and related legal issues is usually a business decision that you'll want to discuss with your colleagues.

Legal issues to be considered include the signer's authorization to use eSignatures for the transaction, authentication, non-reputability, and more.

If you choose to use DocuSign, we have many code examples to help you implement your application.

It is common to "embed" the signing ceremony within your application. Your application can programmatically create the document, or use pre-canned documents.

Signature fields can be placed via anchor text as suggested by @EmmanuelRosa or specific coordinates on the page can be used.

If you have questions about how DocuSign works, contact DocuSign for more information. You can also sign up for a free trial account. When you're ready to develop your software, sign up for a developer sandbox account. More info is available on the DevCenter.

Added: Multiple tenant application

If you're writing an ISV application that you'll sell to multiple customers (tenants) then each customer will usually have their own DocuSign Account. In some cases you'll find that customers will have a pre-existing DocuSign account that they will want to use with your application.

In other cases, your customer's first need for a DocuSign account will be to use it with your application.

If you want, and depending on your volumes, you can resell DocuSign accounts to your customers who need them.

Each DocuSign account can handle any number of users. Users are usually people who send transactions for signing.

Signers do not need a DocuSign account and are not charged for.

You will not want your customers to share a DocuSign account since an account administrator can see all of the account's transactions.

Generally speaking, DocuSign does not charge per account. Instead it charges either per sender or per sent transaction (envelope).

Also note one ISV application written by you will have one Integration Key (same as a client_id) and that application can be used by any number of users, in any number of different DocuSign accounts.

Larry K
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  • Thank you for the detailed response. I created a developer sandbox to get me started. However, I am still a bit curious how if my application has multiple tenants and each of those tenants have multiple administrators, how will a single DocuSign account help me here? Will I still be able to keep all of the documents uploaded across tenants separate and even across administrators separate with keys or something? – Blake Rivell Dec 02 '18 at 08:00
  • Also, I am really focused on how much effort will be involved from the uploader of the document to make it so it can be signed with DocuSign. It seems like below a person is saying the uploaded can put {{signature}} tags in the word document where they want it signed, if this is true I am curious what the options would be for an old PDF that has a signature line at the bottom of it. Let's say they wanted to upload it and send it out for signing. What would their options be to tell DocuSign the signature spots, but only through my app. – Blake Rivell Dec 02 '18 at 08:12
  • Re: multi-tenant apps--I added to my answer. Re: user experience for the senders to send out a document for signature. There are multiple techniques available. See https://stackoverflow.com/q/53580283/64904 – Larry K Dec 02 '18 at 12:51
  • Thank you so much you cleared it all up for me. Each tenant would need their own DocuSign account that will point to each tenant app, then each tenant administrator will be considered a user under that DocuSign account. Customers (signers) will not need an account. I was looking at the API reference and there are Accounts and Users. What is the difference? – Blake Rivell Dec 02 '18 at 15:50
  • Also, besides my message above, one last thing. Anything that I can do through the API I should be able to do through the DocuSign Sandbox GUI as well correct? Like adding users etc.. – Blake Rivell Dec 02 '18 at 17:50
  • A DocuSign user belongs to one or more DocuSign accounts. A DocuSign User may be a DocuSign Account Administrator for one or more of the accounts that they belong too. A DocuSign account sets common policies for its users. – Larry K Dec 03 '18 at 08:31
  • The default Sandbox gui and API enable most Enterprise-account actions but not all. Eg, you can add new users to a sandbox account via the gui but I think there is a limit of 2 or 3. If you want more for your sandbox, ask DocuSign tech support to enable. You can also create multiple sandbox accounts. Not all API actions are enabled by default, talk with DocuSign support to enable any you need. Most all are enabled by default. – Larry K Dec 03 '18 at 08:33
  • Alright, sorry about all of the questions. I finally got somewhere by finding the Admin section in the top right of the sandbox along with this sample: https://github.com/docusign/eg-01-csharp-jwt-core. I believe I have a good grasp on this now. So these documents can be uploaded to my app with tags which might take minor training on the administrator end. Then my app will use the DocuSign SDK to create the Docs and send them out. It seems like for every user in my app that will be uploading documents I will need a User in my sandbox on the Docusign end and store the User guid in my database. – Blake Rivell Dec 03 '18 at 13:44
  • You're using jwt auth where your app is impersonating your users. If your users are present (using the app) then it is MUCH better to use Auth Code Grant. See https://github.com/docusign/eg-03-csharp-auth-code-grant-core Also: please ask new Stack overflow questions, don't add to this one. – Larry K Dec 03 '18 at 18:29
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In fact, it is possible to upload to multiple recipients with DocuSign. As the DocuSign documentation is suggesting, here are the steps to follow in order to send to multiple different recipients from the same account (administrators account).

  1. Upload your document

From your DocuSign Account, click NEW, then click Send an Envelope.

Click UPLOAD A FILE to upload a document from your computer, or click GET FROM CLOUD to upload a document from an online location. Locate the document you want to upload and click Open.

  1. Add the recipient

In the RECIPIENTS field, enter the recipient's name and email address.

  1. Add the email subject and message

a. DocuSign automatically adds an email subject when you upload a document. You can edit this subject and add a message to the recipient by filling in the MESSAGE fields.

b. When finished, click NEXT.

  1. Add signing fields

The Fields Palette and your document appear. The recipient name is displayed in the Recipients List.

To assign a signature or other field for the recipient, click and drag a field from the Fields Palette and place it on the document.

  1. Preview and send your document

Review your document, then click SEND.

Community
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Jonathan Gagne
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I work for HelloSign. The HelloSign API fits your use case very well and you can try it out for free. https://app.hellosign.com/api/reference

Do you want to have the document uploading take place on your website? If so, that is fine with the HelloSign API. We have a workflow called Embedded Requesting where the administrators could place the signature fields using an editor. We have other ways of placing signature fields as well.

Building it yourself is a lot of effort if you want the signature to be legally valid. You can reach out to HelloSign API Support at apisupport@hellosign.com

alexmac05
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