What types of fields are available in Papersign, and how are they configured?

This article is about the eSignature product, Papersign. For Paperform, see Paperform's field types.

Adding fields

"Fields" are anywhere that a participant interacts with the document—this includes typing an answer, selecting something, or signing. You can add new fields to documents in a few different ways.

If you're working with an uploaded PDF page, just click anywhere on the document where you would like to add a field. You'll see a list of options pop up for fields and other content.

On an editable/original page, you can simply type a forward slash / and the options will pop up. You can also use the + icon to the left of the page.

After selecting a field type, you will be prompted to select which signer should fill it out. Choose a signer, and the field will be added to the page.

On a PDF, you can click and drag the field to move it. On editable pages, the field will be placed inline with other text.

Hovering over the field will cause a blue dot to appear in the bottom-right corner. Click and drag this dot to resize the field.

Click on any field to configure it. The settings for the selected field will appear on the right side of the page.

Field types and settings

Papersign currently offers five types of fillable fields, for both original documents and uploaded PDFs:

• Text
• Date
• Signature
• Checkbox
• Dropdown

Text

Text fields ask for an answer to be typed directly onto the page. They have the most flexibility, and these settings can be customized:

• Connected attributes allow you to link a text field with specific information about a signer, such as their name or job title.
• You may set a default value for a field if it is not connected to a signer attribute.
• The optional placeholder will appear as light grey text inside of an unanswered field. Unlike a default answer, this text is typically instructional (e.g. "Your name"). Default answers and values from connected attributes will override the placeholder text if present.
• Validation can be used if you would only like to accept an answer in a specific format. You can restrict the response to an email address, a phone number, numbers only, or letters only.

Date

Date fields prompt the signer to select a date from a small pop-up calendar.

• If "Set default to today" is selected, the field will be answered and the signer will not be required to interact with it, although they will be able to change it if they choose. Turn this setting off if you want them to engage with the field and select the date manually.
• Placeholders work the same as in text fields.
• Use validation to restrict the date to the future or in the past (the current date will always be accepted).

Signature

On the document, this field will present the option to type, draw, or upload a signature. There are no special properties to configure.

Dropdown

These prompt the signer to select from a list of options. Only one answer can be selected at a time in dropdown fields.

• When editing the options, place each choice on a separate line.
• The placeholder is the text shown where the signer will need to click; if you don't enter anything, it will display "Select option" by default.

Checkbox

In Papersign, a checkbox "field" is simply the box itself. For PDFs, this allows you to designate a clickable area over a text checkbox that may already be present.

If you need to write out the text of an option on a PDF, place a text block next to the clickable checkbox.

On editable pages, add a checkbox field for the clickable area, then use plain text to describe the option.

If a checkbox field is set as "required," then it must be ticked by the signer.

Universal settings

The following settings can be applied to all fields, unless otherwise noted.

Field ID

All fields must have a unique ID. These can be seen from the list of fields visible on the right side of the editor (when nothing is selected).

These IDs will not be visible to your signers, but you can change them if you'd like, for the sake of your own organization when editing a document.

"This is a required field"

Required fields must be answered before the document can be submitted. If there is a default answer, signers will not be asked to confirm it or engage with the field before submitting, regardless of this setting.

"A witness must complete this field"

Tick this setting on for any fields that should be completed by another person who is physically present with the signer. These fields will be marked as "For witness" during the signing flow. If the signer is using the guided flow (using the "Start" and "Next" buttons), then the witness will be prompted to fill out their portion of the document after the main signer has completed all of their fields.

Background color

When adding a field to an uploaded PDF, you can change the hue and opacity of the field's background. Most fields are transparent by default, but checkboxes and text blocks start with a solid white background.

On original/editable pages, all fields start with a white background, and the color can only be adjusted on text and date fields.

In the color picker menu that pops up, note that there is a slider for opacity underneath the slider for hue. If the opacity slider is all the way to the left, then it will be transparent (no background).