Sign a Document

Sign a Document

The day-to-day signing flow — for internal users (Frappe desk) and external signers (portal).

Prerequisites

• You have an active Signing Certificate (Signers & Certificates)
• 2FA is set up on your account
• The document type is registered in Signable DocTypes
• The document is submitted (signing happens after submit)

From the Frappe Desk

1. Open a submitted document (e.g., a Sales Order)
2. Click Digital Signing → Sign Document
3. Enter your 2FA code from your authenticator app
4. Click Sign

After signing, the document shows:

• Green indicator: "Signed by [Your Name] on [date]"
• Signed PDF attached
• Download link on the form

From the Portal (external signers)

External signers often access via the portal — no Frappe desk login required.

1. Log in at your site URL
2. Open Orders in the sidebar
3. Open the document needing signature
4. Orange alert: "This document requires your digital signature"
5. Click Sign Document
6. Enter 2FA code
7. Click Sign

The page refreshes with a green "Signed" status and a download link.

Sign on Submit

If Prompt Sign on Submit is enabled for a DocType, the signing dialog appears automatically right after submission. The signer doesn't need to find a button — it's presented immediately.

Sign an Attached PDF

Instead of generating a new PDF from the print format, you can sign an existing PDF attachment:

1. Click Digital Signing → Sign Attached PDF
2. Select the PDF from the attachments list
3. Enter 2FA code and click Sign

Useful for: pre-prepared documents, third-party PDFs, scanned originals.

Signature placement — anchor tags

Place a {{DIGITAL_SIGNATURE}} token in your Print Format HTML where you want the visible signature stamp:

<div style="margin-top: 30px;">
    <p>Prescribing Veterinarian:</p>
    <p>{{DIGITAL_SIGNATURE}}</p>
</div>

At signing time, the app:

1. Scans the PDF for the {{DIGITAL_SIGNATURE}} text
2. Locates its coordinates and page
3. Covers the placeholder with a white rectangle
4. Places the visible signature at that exact location

Fallback: if no anchor tag is found, the signature uses the position configured on the Signable DocType (Bottom Left / Bottom Right / Bottom Center on first or last page).

The visible signature shows:

Digitally signed by
Dr. Jan de Vries
Date: 2026-03-22 10:30:00 CET

Multiple signatures

Currently, each document supports one signature. After the first signature, the document's status becomes "Signed" and additional signing is disabled.

What if signing fails?

Every attempt (success or failure) is recorded in Signature Log — see Security & Audit.