How to create a template

A template is a document you send for signature again and again: the text or file, the fields, who fills each one, and how it's sent. This guide covers everything the dashboard supports.

1. Three ways to create

• Drop a PDF or Word file on the main screen ("Drop a PDF or Word file here"), or click it to choose one. We detect the fields (placeholders such as {signature}, or labelled blanks) and open the builder with them in place. Several PDFs / images are joined into one template, in the order you dropped them.
• Write in the built-in editor: headings, lists, tables, page breaks; add fields from the field list (click inserts at the cursor, drag drops it where you let go), or type {{.
• A PDF or images with fields placed by hand: upload PDF / JPG / PNG files (a Word appendix can join them) and drag fields from the field list onto the pages. Form fields that already exist in the PDF are imported. A password-protected PDF opens with its password (never stored). Limits: 30 MB per upload, up to 20 files and 200 pages; a Word template up to 10 MB.

Template or one-time document? A template is reused for many documents. A one-time document is made once, for a specific deal or customer: upload a file, write it in the editor, or copy a template "for this contract only" (the template doesn't change). It never shows in the templates list, and you can save it as a template later.

The builder has four steps: Content (the document and its fields) → Signers → Settings → Send. "Back" is at the top, "Continue" at the bottom. Changes are saved automatically.

2. Placeholders in a file

Write a placeholder where a field should be. In a PDF and in Word both {name} and {{name}} work; in the built-in editor type {{. Each placeholder becomes a field at its place, and its text is removed: in a PDF it is taken out of the page (and covered), in Word it is replaced when a document is made — signers and the signed PDF never see braces.

Reserved names (no type needed)

Case, spaces, _ . - don't matter. Typos: "signature" and "initials" are recognised with up to two mistakes ({sinature}). Any name like {{client_sig}} is a signature too. Any other name is a text field.

Who signs: the role

Add the signer after a colon: {signature:client}, — or role=… in the settings. Words like client / customer and business / company / supplier are matched to the template's signers; an unknown role adds a signer. With no role, the field goes to the first signer and the builder asks "Who signs here?".

Settings: {{name;key=value;…}}

A setting that isn't known, or a broken placeholder, is listed after the upload ("Variables that weren't read") instead of becoming a field. A {…} that isn't a clean name ({"a": 1}, {x + y}) stays plain text.

3. Files without placeholders

When you drop a file that has no placeholders and no form fields, we look — conservatively — for labelled blanks: a signature / name / date label followed by underscores or dots (Signature: ______, Full name ......), or a line of underscores with the label alone under it. Those become fields of the client, and the builder says so. Nothing else is guessed — add the rest from the field list. A scanned file (no text layer) gets no fields: place them by hand.

4. Field types

Signature, initials, stamp, image, file and date signed are always filled by a signer. Heading and strike-through are fixed on the document.

5. Who fills, required, rules

• Who fills each field: a signer (by role), the business before sending, the organisation's name (filled automatically), or read-only with a fixed value. A one-time change for a single document doesn't change the template.
• Required: on by default (not for headings, strike-through, checkboxes and date signed). A field hidden by a condition is never required.
• Choices: select, multi choice and radio need at least one option.
• Validation: min / max, length, a pattern (ID, digits, letters, Israeli phone / mobile, e-mail, URL, car plate) or your own regular expression with your own error message.
• Defaults: a default value, with tokens such as {date}, {name}, {email}.
• Formulas: + - * / ( ) over numbers and other fields (qty*price*1.18; a name with spaces in [brackets]). Empty until every input is filled.
• Conditions: "show only if" / "required only if" another field equals, contains, is checked, is greater than… (all conditions must hold).
• Style: text size, alignment, colour (dark, black, blue, red) and bold of what's stamped; a mask for sensitive values in the signed copy.

6. Signers and order

• Each signer (role) gets their own link. Up to 10 signers.
• When sending: in order (one after another) or everyone at once. In the template: groups (the same group signs in parallel, the next group is invited when it's done), view-only signers, "invited by" another signer, strict order, decline with a reason, pass to someone else (you approve).
• A default signer per role: you, a team member, or a fixed person — changeable on every send.

7. Settings

• Expiry: how long the link is valid — chosen on each send (default 14 days); the template's default expiry is used by the API, public links and bulk sends.
• Reminders: every 1–30 days, up to 5 times; each one waits for your approval.
• Verification before the document opens: none, an e-mail code, an SMS code, a WhatsApp code, or the signer picks.
• Completion screen: title, text and a button — or a redirect to your https page after signing.
• Branding: accent colour, font, corners, background and layout (one question per screen, or one page); logo and stamp per business.

8. Preview, Continue and sending

• Preview as signer opens the real signing page in preview mode, on the same screen — nothing is signed, saved or sent. It saves first when needed; if something is missing (a name, a field for the signer) it says so right there, with a way back to the content.
• Continue checks each step; Create contract now skips the remaining steps with the signers in the content and the organisation's defaults.
• Send for signature opens at the template's values — you came from it — then the signers, then the review. Delivery: links only (copy each link and send it yourself — e-mail, SMS or WhatsApp), e-mail each signer, or automatic (e-mail where there's an address, a link for the rest). You can also make a public signing link (with a QR code) or send in bulk from a CSV / Excel file.

9. Comments, change requests and revisions

A signer can comment on the whole document, a field, a passage or a point on a page, and can request changes (signing pauses). You reply, resolve, continue without changes, edit the contract after the comments (a new version for this document only — the template doesn't change), or upload a revised file. A new version re-invites the signers and is recorded in the audit certificate.

10. The signed PDF and retention

• Everyone gets the signed PDF, digitally sealed, with an audit certificate (inside the PDF or as a separate file). A PDF template can also give one PDF per file; the signature ID and date can be printed under every signature.
• Signed files stay on our server 90 days (the owner may choose 30–90), then they're deleted — the record and audit trail remain. Connect Google Drive to keep a copy of every signed document in your own Drive.

11. API, webhooks and automations

Everything here is also available through the REST API (/api/v1) with an API key, and signed webhooks report every event (sent, viewed, signed, completed, declined, changes requested…). Automation platforms such as Make or Zapier connect with the same API and webhooks. See the API docs.

12. Sample files

Download a sample and drop it on the dashboard's main screen to see a template built from it — a service agreement with a date, name, phone, e-mail, a plan choice, a consent checkbox and two signatures (the client's and the business's):

Open the dashboard