Is there a way to send a previously Echosigned PDF back through Echosign?

[indiffer3nce]

We are trying to do this for a second round of signatures but it is essentially wiping out the first round of signatures when we upload it in.

[SimonATS · Accepted solution]

yes you can use a previously signed pdf copy as a starting document and no you can't use this to obtain multiple signatures.

When creating the Echosign transaction, you want to included all signing parties. Signing happens sequentially. The document is first sent to the first recipient, when they sign it moves to the next until all parties have signed.

[indiffer3nce]

Here is the way the workflow works currently:

1) We send out the document to collect all signatures from trainees (it is a pre-tagged word document).

2) All trainees sign the document and send back to us for verification.

3) We then download and open the pdf in Acrobat and remove the Hidden text (e.g. the prior tags)

4) Then we can send it back out to collect the trainer's signature

We unfortunately, due to compliance reasons, can not collect the trainer's signature until all trainee signatures have been verified, which is to say that after the 100 or so trainees sign it, only THEN can the trainer sign it. 

I was just wondering if there was a sequential 2 stage process with the same PDF that wouldnt require downloading, scrubbing and sending back out.

[SimonATS]

a few questions

Are you currently using Echosign for this or some other method?

If Echosign , do you mean you use Echosign tags in your word document (to create form and signature fields etc)

I assume you are sending separate agreements to each of the 100 or trainees (instead of sending a single document to be signed a 100 times)

is the trainer the same person in all agreements?

[indiffer3nce]

We have a document, constructed in Word, that is our record of training for each compliance session.  It has room for 150 signatures along with some general info such as class name, trainer name, etc.  We have tagged the word doc with Echosign tags such that when sent out via mega-sign all trainees can sign at their leisure, after the sender completes the initial info.  So yes, we do send out a single doc to collect all of the sigs via Echosign and that part of the process works flawlessly.  It is just that when we receive the final PDF with all of the signatures, Adobe leaves the hidden tag metadata in the PDF so that when you send it BACK out for the trainer's signature, all of the fields, including sigs, are whited out. 

To remediate we have to open the signed PDF in Acrobat, remove the hidden data and then send back out via Echosign to the Trainer for final sig.  The trainer always varies...else we would just jpg stamp the form prior to sending.

[SimonATS]

The Megasign feature (under the home tab in Echosign), if that's what you are referring to , does not collect 100 signatures on the same agreement. What it does is to create 100 copies of the same agreement and sends each individual their own copy. So you end up with 100 individual agreements with a signature each, rather than a single agreement with 100 signatures.

if by mega-sign you mean you enter multiple email addresses into the to: field on the Send tab in Echosign, then there's a limit issue. Echosign only let's you send an agreement to up to 25 people at the same time.

So unless you been in touch with Support or your CSM, you have another issue to solve first, before thinking about your original question.

At this point I would advise you to contact your Success manager to discuss your requirements, mainly to cover the number of signers you have there.

In any case, ignoring the above for a moment. When you send out an already signed pdf, it will convert any active fields. So when you send enable the preview option. This gives you the option to edit fields, in this case you would remove them.

It's not the best workflows, as the original signatures have no 'electronic' meaning in this workflow, as those signature pertain to the first version of the document.

The aim should be to have all signers within the same transaction first time round.