Adobe Sign

What’s an e-signature?

Adobe Sign

What’s an e-signature?

An e-signature or electronic signature is a legal way to get consent or approval on electronic documents or forms. It can replace a handwritten signature in virtually any process.

An e-signature or electronic signature is a legal way to get consent or approval on electronic documents or forms. It can replace a handwritten signature in virtually any process.

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What are the benefits of e-signatures?

Legally binding.

Electronic signatures are legally valid and enforceable in almost every industrialized country in the world.

Incredibly efficient.

Speed up every transaction and process by having recipients e-sign documents.

Extremely cost-effective.

Using e-signatures helps reduce spending on paper, ink, and postage, meaning big cost savings.

What are e-signatures used for?

Sales & Marketing


E-signatures help you close deals faster and free you from many time-consuming admin tasks.

Hiring


Candidates and employees can electronically fill and sign offer letters and onboarding forms quickly and securely.

Legal


Self-serve access to digital documents — like NDAs and liability forms that can be signed electronically — helps keep legal processes moving.

Are e-signatures legally binding?

 

Yes. In 2000, the United States passed the ESIGN Act, making e-signatures legal for

virtually any use. Similar acts have passed around the world, such as eIDAS in Europe,

which make e-signatures a legal, reliable way to get important documents signed.

See all e-signature FAQs

Are e-signatures legally binding?

 

Yes. In 2000, the United States passed the ESIGN Act, making e-signatures legal for

virtually any use. Similar acts have passed around the world, such as eIDAS in Europe,

which make e-signatures a legal, reliable way to get important documents signed.

See all e-signature FAQs

For more advanced authentication, use digital signatures.

Certificate-based digital signatures are the most advanced, compliant, and secure type of e-signature. When you need the highest level of assurance of each signer’s identity and document authenticity, opt for a trusted digital signature backed by digital identity certification, such as our cloud signatures.

Learn more about digital signatures
Electronic vs digital signatures: What’s the difference?

Try Adobe Acrobat Pro DC with e-sign.

Try Adobe Acrobat Pro DC with e-sign.

Adobe Sign powers the e-signature capabilities and tools inside of Adobe Acrobat Pro.

Adobe Sign powers the e-signature capabilities and tools inside of Adobe Acrobat Pro.

Start free trial
Learn more about Adobe Acrobat Pro DC with e-sign

What can you do with Adobe Sign?

Send easily, just like an email.

Upload your document, type in the signer’s email address,

and hit send. That’s it.

View demo

Send easily, just like an email.

Upload your document, type in the signer’s email address, and hit

send. That’s it.

View demo
Approved Trust List.

Sign in a snap.

Signers can simply click a link and sign right there from a

browser, on their computer or on any mobile device —

no downloads or sign-ups needed.

How to sign a document with an e-signature

Sign in a Snap

Signers can simply click a link and sign right there from a browser, on their computer or on any mobile device — no downloads or sign-ups needed.

How to sign a document with an e-signature
Guidance for Industry.

Track and manage progress.

Know the status of every signature, send reminders,

cancel requests, and view a detailed audit trail for any

transaction.

Learn about tracking and managing documents

Track and manage progress.

Know the status of every signature, send reminders, cancel requests, and view a detailed audit trail for any transaction.

Learn about tracking and managing documents
Approved Trust List.

Use with Microsoft 365.

Adobe Sign works with the tools you’re already using.

Quickly send documents out for signature from Microsoft

365, Box, Dropbox, and more.

Learn more about Microsoft integrations

Use with Microsoft 365.

Adobe Sign works with the tools you’re already using. Quickly send documents out for signature from Microsoft 365, Box, Dropbox, and more.

Learn more about Microsoft integrations
Guidance for Industry.

Adobe Sign electronic signature FAQ

An electronic signature, or e-signature, is a legal way to get consent or approval on electronic documents or forms. One of the most relied upon definitions of an electronic signature is “an electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with a record…adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record.” Electronic signatures can be used to replace handwritten signatures in virtually every personal or business process. Examples include contracts, application forms, new hire onboarding forms, nondisclosure agreements, vendor onboarding documents and RFPs, change authorizations, and government benefits enrollment forms.

Yes. Electronic signatures are legally valid and enforceable in nearly every industrialized country around the world, and even less-developed countries are beginning to enact e-signature laws. In 2000, the United States passed the ESIGN Act, making e-signatures legal for virtually all uses. In the European Union, the Electronic Identification and Trust Services Regulation (eIDAS) took effect in July 2016. Other countries have enacted similar laws as well. To learn more, visit our e-signature legality page.

Yes. Adobe takes the security of your digital signing experiences very seriously. Adobe Sign is certified compliant with the world’s most rigorous security standards, such as ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type 2, and PCI DSS used in the payment card industry. Adobe Sign also employs Adobe Secure Product Lifecycle (SPLC) practices, a demanding set of over 1,000 specific security activities spanning software development practices, processes, and tools, and integrated into multiple stages of the product lifecycle. To learn more, visit the Adobe trust center. 

With Adobe Sign, recipients can electronically sign documents by typing or drawing their name on their computer or mobile device or uploading an image of their signature. They can also use more advanced cloud signatures that rely on certificate-based digital IDs to provide stronger signer authentication. 

Simply upload the document you want to get signed. Enter your recipients’ email addresses, and then drag and drop signature and form fields onto the page. Click Send and Adobe Sign will email signers a link to your document.

With a simple signature in Adobe Sign, it’s always free and easy. No downloads or sign-ups are ever needed. Just click the email link to open the document on a mobile phone, tablet, or computer. Tabs and simple instructions walk you through the process. When it’s time to sign, just enter your name in the signature box, upload an image of your signature, or sign using a mouse, finger, or stylus. Click Apply > Finish and you’re done. See more about how to sign using an electronic signature.

No. Online signatures, electronic signatures, or e-signatures refer broadly to any electronic process that indicates acceptance of an agreement or a record. The term “digital signature” is frequently used to refer to a certificate-based digital signature, which is a specific type of e-signature. Digital signatures use certificate-based digital IDs from trust service providers (TSPs) to verify signer identity and demonstrate proof of signing by binding each signature to the document with cryptography.

 

Adobe Sign cloud signatures are certificate-based digital signatures in the cloud – perfect for remote, compliant signing.

Adobe Sign lets you upload a wide range of document types when you request signatures from others or build reusable templates. They include the following: 

 

• PDF and Adobe PDF (.pdf) 

• Microsoft Word (.doc and .docx) 

• Microsoft Excel (.xls and .xlsx) 

• Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt and .pptx) 

• WordPerfect (.wp) 

• Text (.txt) 

• Rich Text (.rtf) 

• Graphics (.tif, .jpg, .jpeg, .gif, .bmp, and .png) 

• Web (.htm or .html) 

 

Learn more about how to sign a Microsoft Word document with an electronic signature

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