Send your first document

Sign in to the Sovrasign app. On Home, select New envelope. Then:

1. Add a document. On a computer, drag a file onto the page, or click to choose one. On a phone or tablet, choose Choose a file, Scan a paper document or Take a photo. See Files you can send.
2. Add the recipients. The editor opens with Recipients and fields on the side. Select Add recipient, type the person's name and the email address they will sign with, and save. Repeat for each signer. See Add signers.
3. Place the fields. Under Add fields for, choose the signer, then drag a field onto the page, or click it and then click the page. Every signer needs a signature field. See Place fields.
4. Continue. The bar at the bottom says what is still missing ("To continue: ..."). When nothing is, select Continue.
5. Review and send. Check the document title, the signers, their order and the number of fields. The page also shows how many envelopes you have left. Select Send.

Your browser then seals the document, its fields and the signing order, uploads it, and Sovrasign checks it: for malware, then for scripts and hidden content. When the checks pass, Sovrasign emails the signers: "Sent ... the signer gets an email invitation." Select Track it to open the envelope's page, which follows every invitation and signature. You also find the envelope on Home and in Agreements. See Reminders and resending.

To try the editor first, select Try the editor with a sample on Home. Nothing is sent until you select Send.

After you send

The envelope's page opens with "Sent. Now it is their turn." It updates by itself when someone opens or signs, and we email you when everyone has signed.

Signing in the same room. If the next signer is with you, select Show QR code next to their name. They scan it with their own phone, and their signing page opens there. They still confirm who they are before signing (a code to their own email address, or their own Google, Microsoft or Apple account), exactly as with the email; the email's link keeps working. Copy link gives you the same link to send another way. Show or send it only to that person: the envelope's activity log records that you shared it.

When everyone has signed, the page shows the result full screen: download the signed PDF, Check it yourself (the free verifier opens on the file in a new tab; nothing is uploaded), and the next step: save the envelope as a template, or see the plans if that was your last free envelope.

Tips. The first time you use the editor, the review step and the envelope's page, a short tip shows above it, one at a time. Select Got it to hide it for good, in every browser. To stop tips, turn off Show tips under Settings > Tips.

Files you can send

A PDF, or images (JPEG, PNG, WebP). Images become one PDF on your device, a page each; a scan or photo becomes one page per photo. Only the PDF is uploaded.

The app sends one PDF per envelope for now. To send several PDFs in one envelope (up to 20, 50 MB together), use the earlier send page (Open the send page on the review step), or combine them into one PDF first. Several documents are signed together as one PDF, and signers see each one by name: see Download the signed document.

Also a Word document (.docx), on every plan, which Sovrasign converts to PDF: see Send a Word document. For a .doc, .odt or .rtf file, save the document as .docx or PDF and add that.

Messages you may see

• "Not sent yet: the service removed content from this PDF." The PDF contained scripts or other active content, which Sovrasign removes before anyone signs. The cleaned copy is now the document: check it, then select Send again.
• "Sign in again to send." Your last sign-in was more than 12 hours ago. Sign in again; the document comes back with its fields, ready to send.
• "Nothing to review" or "Choose the document again on Home". The tab lost the document before Sovrasign saved it as a draft. Open the draft from Agreements, under Drafts, if it is there; otherwise start again from Home.
• "No envelopes left". See Plans and limits.
• A file that fails the malware scan cannot be sent.
• "This document cannot be used", with a reason: Sovrasign cannot read the PDF safely, for example because it is damaged or protected with a password. Open it and save or print it to a new PDF, then add that.
• "The document is being checked for active content; try again in a few seconds." Wait, then select Send again.
• "This document was cleaned after upload ... download the cleaned copy and prepare it again." Sovrasign removed active content or earlier versions from the file. Prepare the cleaned copy.
• On the send page, with several PDFs: "an envelope holds at most 20 documents", "the documents together are ... MB; an envelope holds at most 50 MB", or "these documents cannot be combined". Send fewer or smaller documents, or several envelopes.
• Anything that asks you to try again later: see When Sovrasign says to try again.

What counts

An envelope counts toward your allowance when it is sent. See Plans and limits.

People who get a copy without signing (CC)

The app does not add CC recipients yet. The review step links to the earlier send page, Open the send page, which can add them.

Drafts, messages and templates

Sovrasign saves your envelope as a draft while you work, and you can add a subject and a message for the signers on the review step, or save the envelope as a template to send again. See Templates, drafts and the email message.

Error codes

If the app or the page names an error code, it is one of these.