How to send a document for someone else to sign

The free route, in three steps

1. 01

   Sign your side first

   Open the PDF in the free signer, add your own signature and the date, and download. Sending a document you have already signed makes it obvious what you expect back.

2. 02

   Email it with a clear ask

   Attach the signed PDF and say in one line what you need and by when. Point the recipient at a browser signer if they ask how, since most people stall at the printer rather than at the decision.

3. 03

   File the signed copy that comes back

   Keep the reply, since the email thread carries the timestamps and the sending address. For an informal agreement that thread is your record.

What the email route does not give you

An email thread proves that a file moved between two mailboxes. It does not prove who was at the keyboard, that the signer saw the final version, or that the copy in your folder is the copy they signed. For a friend borrowing a van, that is fine. For a client contract you might have to enforce, it is thin.

The other weakness is version drift. Once a PDF is an attachment being forwarded around, two slightly different copies can circulate and nobody notices until someone quotes a clause that only exists in one of them.

When a signing link earns its keep

A request to sign flow sends the other party an expiring link instead of an attachment. They open the document, give explicit consent to sign electronically, and sign. The signature is applied on the server, so the signer's device cannot alter the document content, and every party is emailed a certificate of completion with timestamps, signer email addresses, IP addresses and SHA-256 fingerprints of the document.

That matters when the amount is large enough to argue about, when several people sign the same document, or when you need to show a third party such as an accountant or an insurer what happened. It is part of the paid plans, and the document is stored in an encrypted vault with an append only audit trail rather than in an inbox.

Which one to pick

Use email when the counterparty is someone you trust, the document is short, and you would never realistically litigate it. Use a signing link when the document is a real commercial agreement, when there are more than two signers, or when the value would justify a dispute.

It is worth being blunt about the trade off. The email route is free and immediate but leaves you holding a PDF and a thread. The link route costs money and asks the other side to click through a flow, and in exchange you get a record that stands up outside your own mailbox.

Frequently asked questions

Can I send a document for signature without paying?

Yes, by emailing the PDF and asking for a signed copy in return. The recipient can sign it free in their browser without an account. What you do not get is a recorded consent step, timestamps or a completion certificate, which is the line between the free route and a request to sign flow.

Does the other person need an account to sign what I send?

Not for the email route. They open the PDF in a free browser signer and reply with the signed copy. With a signing link they open the link and sign there, still without creating an account, since only the person sending the request needs a plan.

Can two or more people sign the same document?

By email it works but gets awkward, because each signer has to sign the copy the previous one returned, in order, or you end up merging versions. A signing link handles multiple signers on one document and emails everyone the same certificate of completion at the end.

What is actually in the certificate of completion?

Timestamps for each signature, the signer email addresses, the IP addresses the signatures came from, and SHA-256 fingerprints of the document. The fingerprint is what lets you show later that the file you are holding is the file that was signed, rather than a re-saved copy.