A steady document signing process is the back bone of any contract-oriented organization. Conventional signing process leaves you with piles of signed documents, difficult to handle and archive. Also, the documents are passed around different departments, either getting lost or eating up too much time delaying the signing process. Online signature is the answer to all these concerns.

Save your time and effort with GroupDocs’ online signature

Say good bye to lost signed documents and tons of paper piling up in your office! Embrace GroupDocs Signature, an efficient online signature service, to streamline your entire signing process. GroupDocs’ online signature service lets you easily prepare & send documents to signers, and collect signatures online.

Get peace of mind by tracking the signing process

Track the document signing process from a centralized location. As soon as the documents are signed, they are automatically archived and available for retrieval when required. This completely avoids the chance of documents getting lost in mountains of signed contracts. In addition, there is no need to follow up your signers regularly through phone calls or emails. You can simply set a reminder while creating a new envelope (while preparing the document for signature) so that the signers get notifications automatically till the reminder expires.

Efficient work flow walks you through the entire process

The work flow for preparing the documents for signing and sending it is so simple that even novice people can do it without the help of any documentation. GroupDocs Signature walks you through the entire process step by step. The workflow is designed in such a way that you go to the next step only after finishing the present one. This will make sure that you perform the process correctly.

Procedure for preparing and sending a document for online signature

Now, lets see the simple steps for preparing a document for e-signature and sending them out to collect signatures:

1. Go to Signature dashboard and start creating a new envelope.
   

2. Step 1 - Choose a File:

   Here you have three options to choose a file. Use one of them to select your preferred document:

   1. Drag and drop the file in the DROP FILES HERE area.
   2. Use the Upload button and select a file from your computer.
   3. Use the Add from Library button to select a file from your GroupDocs repository.
      

3. Step 2 - Add Recipients:

   • Add your signers or recipients here.
     

4. Step 3 - Add Info (optional):

   • Add more details to the envelope. You can also add a watermark to your documents. This step is optional.
     

5. Step 4 - Add Reminders (optional):

   • Add reminder, deadline and document expiry in this step. This too is optional.
     

6. Step 5 - Add Fields:

   • Drag and drop fields to the required location on the uploaded document.
     

7. Step 6 - Summary (optional):

   • Review the envelope one final time and send the document to the signer(s).
     
   • The signers can then easily sign documents online just using a browser. Type, draw, or upload the signature.
     

All related partied are notified as soon as the documents are signed.
Stay tuned for a step-by-step video tutorial on how to prepare and send a document for online signature, it's in the pipeline. So why wait! go green with this efficient e-signature service.

Today we will find out how to use GroupDocs' Ruby SDK. We will create a GroupDocs Signature envelope sample with the Sinatra framework. GroupDocs Signature envelopes are used to prepare documents for digital signature and managing the signature process.

Setting Up

First, create the application folders structure:

• your_app/public – for CSS files.
• your_app/samples – for sample files.
• your_app/views – for view files, we will use Haml for these.

Also we need to create a Gemfile in our project's root directory with the following content: https://gist.github.com/averjr/4739176

Writing the Application

Lets start our application. Create app.rb file with following content: https://gist.github.com/averjr/4739208

• Lines 1-3 requires the Sinatra framework, GroupDocs SDK and haml for our views.
• Lines 5-7 creates our first root with a view named index.haml. By default, Sinatra looks for view files in views directory.
• Line 13 includes all Ruby files from the samples directory.

Now lets work on the views. Create a parent layout file called layout.haml.

https://gist.github.com/averjr/a0313da572e3141811f3

It is really easy to work with HTML using Haml.
Find out more about Haml.
Here's anonline tool for converting HTML to Haml.
Note that in Haml, you don't have to close tags and indents are very important!

“= yield” is where child templates are included.

In index.haml you'll see an h1 header, div container and ul list with one list element that links to our envelope sample: https://gist.github.com/averjr/c23ab36e0b8e3415dc8e

You can add any HTML attribute like this: {:your_attribute => “your attribute value”}.

The Starting Point

Before creating the envelope sample, lets look at what we have.

To avoid problems with starting the application, use rvm. (This article explains how to install rvm.)

Now install a local bundle by typing this command in a terminal, while in the app directory:

If it is installed already, use this command:

And now you could start the application:

In the terminal, you will see something like this:

Terminal - Terminal massages after starting Sinatra server

Open in you browser with the URL http://localhost:4567/ and you will see the following:

Index page - Index page of our app without CSS

Add a little CSS in public/css directory:

https://gist.github.com/averjr/4752864

Re-load the page and you will see:

Index page with CSS - After adding CSS the page looks like this

Creating the Envelope Example

Lets create envelope_sample.haml in your views directory with the following content:https://gist.github.com/averjr/4739266

We have created a form that sends the ClientID, PrivateKey and the file to be signed.

Now write the Ruby code that handles the get and post request as the file envelope-sample.rb in samples directory: https://gist.github.com/averjr/4739271

We have created one GET and one POST request.

Extending the POST Request

Lets extend post request and use the GroupDocs API:

1. Configuring GroupDocs SDK.

2. Upload document.

3. Create envelope.

4. Add document to envelope.

5. Update document object after it's created.

6. Add new recipient to envelope.

7. Update recipient object after it's created.

8 (Optional).  By default, fields for signing are created automatically, but you can add fields manually.

9. Send envelope with callback URL.

10. Construct embedded signature URL for views.

11. Add local vars for the view.

12. Add code for handling exeptions.

Handling a Callback

Lets handle the callback:

1. First, wait for callback and create a text file with parameters that the server sent to us:

2. We can also wait for a callback and download the signed envelope as ZIP file.

3. Create route to check if callback was sent:

Check the file that was created in /envelope-sample/sign

The Complete Code

The final code of the sample looks like this: https://gist.github.com/averjr/4739332

Recently, we introduced the new GroupDocs Signature dashboard, which helps you to quickly execute your e-signature process. Use this intuitive dashboard to sign documents online using our secured digital signatures. Use our e-signature service to collect signatures without the administrative overhead of printing, stuffing envelops and posting. Simply email documents to your signers and wait for them to sign. GroupDocs Signature even reminds signers if they forget to sign so that you can focus on other things.

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GroupDocs Signature is an easy to use electronic signature service. You use it so collect signatures without the administrative overhead of printing, stuffing envelopes and posting. Simply email documents to your signers and wait for them to sign. GroupDocs Signature even reminds signers if they forget to sign so that you can focus on other things.

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Last week we posted articles on what you need from a digital document signature service and how to use GroupDocs Signature to sign a document. Hopefully, that was useful and you've got an idea of what you should be looking for when looking for a digital signature application.

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This post walks you through how to use GroupDocs Signature to collect electronic signatures step by step. This article doesn't cover all the options in the app, just the bare bones of what you need to do to select a document and ask a signer to sign it. You can send documents that you have already stored with GroupDocs, or you can upload an entirely new document. Here, I'll show you how start by uploading a document.

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