How signing works
Three steps, two kinds of send, and what each party actually receives.
Everything that goes out for signature travels the same path — Fill → Sign → Send — whether it started as a one-off document or a template your team maintains. Understanding those three steps is most of understanding the feature.
By the end you'll know what each of the three steps decides, the difference between a one-off send and a template send, and what a signer sees.
The three steps
Fill — settle the document
Everything that needs the original file happens here: deciding what each detected placeholder actually is, and typing the details. The panel reads as a deal sheet, not a form — the document names itself from the details as you complete them ("Mutual non-disclosure agreement, between Acme Holdings Ltd and Meridian Systems LLC"), Particulars are a ruled schedule of term and value, and Execution is one line per party with the signature blocks listed beneath it.
Anything the analyzer wasn't sure about becomes a Query that quotes the clause it sits in and offers you three answers: it's a particular, it's executed by a signer, or it's not applicable.
Sign — place the signature blocks
Crossing into Sign generates the real document once, from your filled details, and says so. This step lists each party and the blocks they complete, with the page each one sits on. Details stay editable here: changing one regenerates the document in place and keeps every placement you've made.
Send — circulate it
A circulation slip: who receives it, in what order, and a covering note. Before it goes, a Before it goes list states the checks that were actually made — including which of your monthly signature requests this send consumes.
Two kinds of send
One-off sends start from a document: upload it, pull it from the Vault, or send a contract the assistant just drafted. Nothing is saved for reuse unless you choose to — after sending, a Save as template action turns the prepared document into a published template in one click.
Template sends start from a template your team already maintains, seeded with its parties, particulars and signature blocks. Because a template exists to be quick, Fill offers both Place signatures and Continue — you're never marched through placement you don't need.
What the signers see
Each party gets their own link and signs in the order that was set: the first is invited immediately, everyone else when the person before them is done. Signers receive the original file — the print-styled view instaSpace shows you never changes the document itself. When the last party signs, the executed copy comes back sealed, and everyone who needs it can download it from the request.
Sequential order matters more than it looks. Put the counterparty last when you want your own side's approvals locked before anything leaves the building.
Where documents can come from
You don't have to start on the Signatures page. A contract the assistant drafted can go straight to signature from the draft panel, and so can a document sitting in your Vault — in both cases without downloading and re-uploading anything.