Attach a PDF copy of the signed document in emails sent to

Overview

A PDF copy of a signed agreement can be attached to the final email notification delivered to the agreement participants upon the successful completion of the signature process.

Who the signed PDF is delivered to is based on the settings defined in the group the agreement is sent from, and the distribution can be limited to only internal recipients, external recipients, internal and external recipients, or no one.

The delivered PDF is attached directly to the email and is validated by the Adobe Acrobat Sign CDS signing certificate, ensuring the document is a certified copy of the legally signed original on the Acrobat Sign server.

Administrators should consider the nature of the content collected in their documents and evaluate the benefits and risks of delivering an attached copy of the document in email format. If copies are not delivered to the recipients, a system for providing copies of the signed document to external signers should be established.

Best practices

Administrators will need to understand the nature of the agreements being sent and if the convenience of delivering the signed document to the signers outweighs whatever risk may be incumbent in attaching the PDF.

Objectively, it's more secure to suppress email delivery of the signed PDF. This must be balanced against the requirements of delivering the signed document to the signers (if any exist). If automated delivery is suppressed, administrators should develop an intake and delivery process for delivering the signed documents to their signers when requested.

Depending on the agreement volumes and the sensitivity of various agreements, it may be worthwhile to establish different groups to deliver highly sensitive agreements with more severe security options.

Configuration

Availability:

The option to attach a PDF to the final email is available for team and enterprise license plans.

Configuration scope:

The feature can be enabled at the account and group levels.

The controls for this feature can be assessed by navigating to Global Settings > Attach a PDF copy of the signed document in emails sent to

The controls allow for limiting the delivery audience:

• All recipients - All parties involved in the agreement process will get a copy of the document.
  
• Internal recipients - Only participants that are internal to your Acrobat Sign account will get the document.
  • Note that internal recipients have direct access to download a copy of the original agreement on the Manage page of their Acrobat Sign account.
• External recipients - Only participants that are external to your Acrobat Sign account will get the document.
  • Note that external recipients do not typically have direct access to the agreement on the Acrobat Sign system. External recipients that want a copy of the document must contact your organization to request a copy.
• No one - the PDF is not attached in the final email.