Adobe - How to Request a Signature in Acrobat Standard or Pro with and without Adobe Sign

Intended for:

All users who need to request a signature in Adobe Acrobat Standard or Pro with and without access to Adobe Sign.

Scenario/Use case:

Request a signature for a PDF.

Instructions:

There are two ways to request a signature in a PDF.  One it without access to Adobe Sign and one is with access to Adobe Sign.

Please see the below instructions for which method you are using.

There is also instruction on how to add the signature tool if it is missing.

How to Request a Signature in Adobe Acrobat Standard and Pro DC WITHOUT Adobe Sign:

1. Open the PDF you want to add the signature field to.
2. Click on Tools in the 2nd to top menu bar.
3. Under Forms and Signatures click Prepare Form.
4. You may be asked to select a file or scan a document to begin.
5. To add a digital signature field, you will click on the icon that looks like a pen signing a document.  It is located at the top of your document.
6. When you move your mouse back over the document, a blue signature field will appear.
7. A yellow box will ask you to create a Field Name, you can label this the name of the signature.
8. For example, “Fermilab Required Signature”.
9. This is helpful in case you need to add more than one digital signature to your document.
10. You can also determine if this digital signature is a required field for your document.
11. If so, you can click the box Required field.
12. Once you have named the signature, click over to the side and it will drop your digital signature box into your document. You can now move it where you want it in the document.
13. It is also helpful to set a border and background color for the signature field.
14. You can right click on the signature field and select properties.
15. Click on the Appearance tab then select the border color and fill color first before selecting the Line Thickness and Line Style.
16. Save your document.
17. You can now manually e-mail it to who needs to physically or digitally sign the document.

How to Request a Signature in Adobe Acrobat Standard and Pro DC WITH Adobe Sign:

To request a signature or sign a document or form using Adobe Sign, you must first request and activate Adobe Sign before using it in Acrobat DC Standard or Pro (it does not work in Reader).

How to Activate Adobe Sign:

1. Locate the email from Adobe with a subject of “You now have access to Adobe Sign-Enterprise TRNS”.  Note the subject may change in the future.
2. Click on “Get Started” from within the email.
3. If prompted for login, use username@fnal.gov and click Continue
4. Select Company or School Account
5. Login with your SERVICES ID and Password.
6. This will complete activation of Adobe Sign.

How to Request a Signature using Adobe Sign:

1. Open the PDF document or form that you want to sign in Acrobat Standard or Pro.
2. Click Request Signatures on the right tool bar.
3. Enter the email of the signee.
4. Click Specify Where to Sign.
5. Mark the location where the signature(s) are required.
6. Click Send.
7. The signee will receive an email with instructions on where to locate the document in the cloud and sign.
8. Once signed, the requestor will receive an email where to locate the signed document in the cloud.

How to add the Signature Tool if Missing:

1. When you open Acrobat DC, click on the Tools menu option at the top left.
2. Scroll down until you see Customize.
3. Open the "Create Custom Tool".
4. Expand "Prepare Forms" in the list displayed.
5. Select "Digital Signature" (second from the bottom).
6. Add it to a custom list or add it to show in the Toolbar.
7. I strongly recommend reviewing the entire list which displays when you open the "Create Custom Tool".
8. Click save and name your custom tool.
9. You can now access the "Digital Signature" tool.

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