If you send a basic signature request through the API, each signer in your request will get a signature field on a signature page at the end of the document.
What if you want to control where the signature box is on the document? What if you want to add your own text, date, checkbox or initial fields right on the document?
The Sign API provides three solutions for doing this, each with its own strengths and flexibility: templates, text tags, and form fields per document.
Templates are a visual drop and drag solution. You can create a template on HelloSign.com by uploading a file, and using our online template editor to select and place as many fields as you need right on your document.
For simple documents that you will use again and again, templates are an easy to use and easy to understand solution. Just create the template once, and use the template_id to send the signature request with the Send With Template endpoint.
You can create and send templates for free when you use them with test mode requests with our API, but using them in production does require a paid plan. See our pricing page for more details.
Text Tags are a special syntax that you can type right into your own document! Once the document gets uploaded with a signature request, the syntax is converted to fields.
For example:
[sig|req|signer1]
Creates a required signature field assigned to your first signer.
You can create signature, initial, date and checkbox fields for your signers to fill out. You can also use text-merge fields to fill out information on the form right before the request is sent. Read our Text Tags walkthrough to get started!
The advantages of text tags are the ability to edit the tags right on your own document, as well as easy placement of fields - your final fields are exactly the width of the space you leave between the starting and ending brackets. Documents created with text tags can be used with non-embedded or embedded flows, by using any of the endpoints that allow you to upload files for signature.
Form Fields Per Document
This final way of placing fields requires a familiarity with JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) and a willingness to work with coordinate systems. You create a map of the fields on your document by passing in an array of objects for each page of your document. Each object is one field, and you can set the x/y coordinates, height, width and type of field.
The advantage of this solution is an ability to easily transfer old document mapping onto a new document without manually placing the fields. If you use the same field placement on a variety of forms, you only need to save one set of coordinates.
This is an example of a form fields per document array:
Any of these three solutions offer the flexibility and power to set up your own fields just where you want them on your own document.
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