Configure well-formatted signatures

Control the formatting applied to typed and drawn signatures and initials, including the signature line and supporting text.

Adobe Acrobat Sign can apply standard formatting to typed and drawn electronic signatures. When well-formatted signatures are enabled, Acrobat Sign adds a line beneath the signature and displays the signer name and date below it.

Well-formatted signatures are enabled by default. When disabled, Acrobat Sign displays only the signature script.

Configuration

Availability

• Acrobat Sign Solutions: Supported
• Acrobat Sign for Government: Supported
• Acrobat Standard and Acrobat Pro: Supported

Configuration scope

Well-formatted signatures can be configured at the account and group levels.

• Group-level settings override account-level settings.
• Default value: Enabled

Access the controls by opening the administrator configuration menu and selecting Signature Preferences.

Controls

Use well-formatted signatures and initials — Adds standard formatting to supported typed and drawn signatures and initials. When disabled, Acrobat Sign displays the signature or initials without the additional formatting.

Dynamically adjust line below the signature and initials — Adjusts the length of the line to the content placed in the signature field. This control applies only when well-formatted signatures and initials are enabled.

How the setting works

When well-formatted signatures are enabled, Acrobat Sign applies the line and supporting text when a recipient uses a supported typed or drawn signature.

Initial fields include the formatting line but do not include the date and time information shown beneath Signature fields.

The dynamic line setting determines the length of the line:

• When dynamic line adjustment is disabled, the line spans the full width of the signature field defined during authoring.
• When dynamic line adjustment is enabled, Acrobat Sign sizes the line slightly longer than either the signature or the printed text beneath it, whichever is wider.

When well-formatted signatures are disabled, Acrobat Sign does not add the line or supporting text. The width of the authored signature field does not affect the displayed signature.

After an administrator configures these settings, senders and recipients don't need to take any additional action and can't change the formatting for individual agreements.

Best practices

Keep well-formatted signatures enabled when your agreements primarily use typed or drawn signatures. The additional name and date information can provide a consistent signature presentation, particularly for documents created as needed.

Consider disabling well-formatted signatures when:

• Your templates already provide dedicated fields or space for the signer's name and date.
• Your agreements use multiple signature methods and you want signatures to have a more consistent visual presentation.

If your workflows don't allow typed or drawn signatures, this setting has no effect.

Things to know

The well-formatted line and supporting text aren't applied when the signature uses:

• An image
• A stamp
• A signing reason

The date and time displayed beneath a supported signature use the recipient's time zone. Initial fields do not include a date and time stamp.

If a default date format is configured for the group, Acrobat Sign uses that format. If no default date format is configured, Acrobat Sign uses the following format:

Month Day, Year Time TimeZone

For example:

Aug 18, 2024 14:30 ADT

Including the time zone provides context for the signature time relative to other agreement events.