Overview of authored fields
Authoring a document allows the placement of fields to collect recipient data. This data can range from the ubiquitous signature and initial fields to more exotic options like calculated values, hyperlinks to external web pages, and external file attachments.
This article provides a brief summary of each field family and the included unique fields in that family. A link to a more detailed article is available for
Common vs. Advanced form fields
Where all accounts have access to the common field types, higher tiers of service have access to an additional set of advanced form fields and functionality:
Signature Fields:
- Signature
- Digital Signature
- Initials
- Signature Block
- Stamp
Signer Info Fields:
- Title
- Company
- Name
- Date
Data Fields:
- Text Input
- Drop Down
- Check Box
- Radio Button
Transaction Fields:
- Participation Stamp
- Transaction Number
Data Fields:
- Image
More Fields:
- File Attachment
- Hyperlink
Payment Fields:
- Payments (Payment fields are unique in that they require the integration of a third-party service.)
In addition to the above field types, "advanced form fields" also permit the below functionality:
- Conditional field visibility - Available to all field types except the Hyperlink and Transaction Fields
- Calculated field values - A property of the Text Input field
- Field validation: Custom - Regular Expression - A validation option for the Text Input field that allows use of a custom coded regular expression
- Field validation: Custom - Formula - A validation option for the Text Input field that allows use of a calculated value
Field-level field type selection
Within the properties of most field types, there s a drop down value that allows you to change the type of field to another field type.
This will significantly speed up form creation when used in conjunction with Automatic Field Detection.
Signature fields
By default, signature and initials fields are mandatory, as the red asterisk denotes. You can deselect the Required check box in the field properties if you want to make them optional. Each signer needs to have been assigned a required Signature field. If a signer does not have a required signature field assigned, or has only been assigned an optional signature field, Adobe Acrobat Sign adds a Signature block at the bottom of the document.
The signature block is a group of fields. The signature block field cannot be made optional and is always required.
By default, the signature block contains both a signature field, and an e-mail field.
Account Admins can adjust what fields are included in the signature block. Title and company name fields can be included in addition to the signature and e-mail fields.
They can be added by going to the Account page, Signature Preferences, and check the options labeled:
- Require signers to provide their job title when e-signing
- Require signers to provide their company name when e-signing
If signature blocks are appearing at the end of the document, the system was unable to find a required signature field for one or more signers. All signers must have at least one required signature field assigned to them.
A signature block is also added when Signature Preferences have been set to "require signers to provide their job title or company when e-signing" and discrete fields have not been added.
web forms require both a signature field and an Acrobat Sign e-mail field to be present for all signers.
Stamp fields can serve double duty as either a stand alone signature, or in support of another signature fields. For example, you may need to place a personal signature, as well as a corporate seal or Hanko stamp.
Signer info fields
Signer info fields are used to collect specific information stored in Acrobat Sign. Registered users have this information under their profile.
Usually, these fields are automatically populated with the information on record for the assigned user.
The Title and Company fields auto-fill with the Title and Company value if the signer already has an Acrobat Sign account. If the signer does not already have an Acrobat Sign account, they can click into these fields and enter a value. That value is then retained and automatically applied to these field types on documents they sign in the future.
The title and company fields cannot be made optional and are always required fields, as the red asterisk denotes.
The title and company fields can be resized by dragging the hashes in the lower-right corner of the field.
These fields are read-only fields that are automatically populated with the data on file for the signer.
The Signer Name field takes the name value that is entered into the signature field.
The e-mail field is automatically populated with the e-mail address you sent the agreement to.
The Date field is automatically populated with the date the agreement is accessed.
If you want a custom date value or manually entered e-mail address, use a form field and set it up to have a custom validation.
Data fields
Data fields are used to collect additional information from the recipient. It also includes objects the recipient can use to make selections or choose options.
The Text Field is the most versatile field type. It is a fillable text field, and by default it can have any kind of data entered such as an address or short sentence.
The form field can be resized by dragging the hashes in the lower-right corner of the field.
By default, Text Fields only support a single line of text. If you want to create a field that can contain multiple lines of text, open the options window for the form field. Then, select Multi-line Data Entry. Scale the field to an appropriate size to accommodate the multiple lines of data.
The Dropdown field is a list of selections, in which only a single selection can be made from that list. An example would be a drop-down list of states, where the signer can only select a single state from the list.
The drop-down field can be resized by dragging the hashes in the lower-right corner of the field.
Checkboxes are toggle objects and can be checked or deselected at any time. This option is useful for "check-all-that-apply" cases, or as a toggle for a single selection, like opting in for future contact.
Radio buttons are grouped together. The group requires a minimum of two buttons and only allows a single radio button to be selected in the group at any time. If another radio button in that group is selected, the others are deselected. This is ideal for "one-or-the-other" options, like Yes or No.
The Image field can be used to have a recipient attach an image that can later be exported for use. Student ID images, or scanned images of documents like a social security card are possible.
More fields
The file attachment field can be used to attach documents or images to the transaction.
File Attachment fields can be used to collect supporting documents or images from signers during the signing process. The uploaded documents are included as part of the signed document and are attached at the end of the signed agreement after the signature process is complete.
The file attachment field can be resized by dragging the hashes in the lower-right corner of the field.
Attachments are limited to 25 pages and 5 MB.
Supported formats: PNG, JPG, JPEG, GIF, BMP, PDF, DOC, DOCX, WP, TXT, RTF, HTM, or HTML
- The hyperlink field is available to business and enterprise service plans.
- The hyperlink field can be resized by dragging the hashes in the lower-right corner of the field.
- If a hyperlink field is defined as Required, the field must be assigned to a participant.
- Hyperlinks can be assigned using the Everyone participation role, meaning all recipients can click the link.
- Hyperlinks can be configured to navigate the user to a location within the document or to an external URL.
- When a hyperlink is configured with an external target, the recipient is warned that the link is directing them to an external site.
- When a hyperlink is configured with an external target, the recipient is warned that the link is directing them to an external site.
Participation stamps are applied after the assigned recipient signs the agreement. As such, they cannot be accessed or edited by the recipient.
By default, the stamp includes the participant's:
- Name
- Signing time
- Email address
- Title*
- Company*
*Title and company values are imported from the Title and Company fields assigned to the participant in the agreement.
- If the Title and/or Company field isn't present on the agreement, the values are imported from the participant's Acrobat Sign profile (if one exists).
- Otherwise, the values are left empty
Optionally, the participant's Title and Company values can be excluded by checking the Exclude company name and job title in the participation stamp feature located in that administrator's menu under Signature Preferences > Additional Settings:
The Transaction Number stamp will auto-populate with the unique identifying number that indicates the agreement in the Acrobat Sign system. Recipients cannot directly interact with the field.
