Adobe Sign

Overview

Adobe Sign is an e-signing application that can be used to send documents securely for signature. Signed documents that have been sent through Adobe Sign are certified by Adobe, and cannot be modified without removing that certification. Adobe Sign can be accessed either as a tool inside Adobe Acrobat DC, or from the Adobe Sign web dashboard. You can access the web dashboard at this link using your SWC login credentials, and do not need to install anything on your computer to use it.

How to Get Access

All full-time faculty and Classified staff and administrators have access to Adobe Sign. Part-time and adjunct faculty may also be given access as part of the Tenure Review process. If you need access and don't currently have it, please file a service ticket under the category Application Support: Adobe Sign to request access.

Sending Documents with Adobe Sign

The Request Signatures tool in Adobe Acrobat DC allows you to send documents through Adobe Sign. You can also send documents through the Web Dashboard using an identical tool.

Do not use Preview to fill out forms. Opening an Adobe fillable PDF in Preview will make it completely incompatible with Adobe Sign.

The recommended practice for filling out forms is as follows. This process is the same for both Adobe Acrobat and the web dashboard.

  1. Start with a blank copy of the form as a document on your computer.
  2. Open the Request Signatures tool in either Adobe Acrobat or the web dashboard.
  3. If you need to fill out part of this form, add yourself as the first recipient, followed by everyone who needs to sign the form. Do this even if you have entered information into the form using a different application.
  4. If you are using the web dashboard, there will be a checkbox labeled "Preview & Add Signatures" near the button that takes you to the next page in the interface. Click that checkbox before proceeding.
  5. You will be directed to an editing interface where you can add or modify fillable fields. Review these fields before proceeding.
  6. If you are first on the recipient list, you will be directed to a page inside the sending interface where you can fill out the document before sending it to the next recipient.

If you need to fill out a form and save it on your computer, use Adobe Acrobat or Google Chrome instead of Preview. Again, it is not recommended that you do this, but these applications are direct replacements for Preview that will not corrupt the document. 

Editing Forms for Adobe Sign

If you have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer, you can use the Prepare Form tool to insert form elements into a blank document, or configure a fillable form for use with Adobe Sign.

If you do not have access to Adobe Acrobat, or have little experience creating forms, the following method will correct virtually every issue with corrupted or misconfigured fillable forms. Keep a backup copy of any form that you use this procedure on. 

  1. Open the document in Google Chrome.
  2. If you need to fill out any portion of the document, do so now. Do not attempt to sign the document.
  3. While still in Google Chrome, print the document to a PDF.
    1. If you are comfortable with Adobe Acrobat, open the document with that application and copy over the document formatting and accessibility features from the original document using the Edit PDF tool. Do not copy over the fillable fields.
  4. Put this printed PDF through the sending process, as described earlier on this page.

This process will strip all formatting from the document, including metadata and accessibility options. If you do this, please contact someone who can correctly format the document for future use. Reach out to the owner of the form if possible, and file an Application Support ticket through ServiceNow. This ticket should include a description of the issue, a blank copy of the form attached, and where you got the form from.

Frequently Asked Questions