Prerequisites
- A workspace on a paid plan, or a free workspace during its 30-day trial of premium features — signing is a premium feature.
- The PDF you want signed, already in your archive and finished processing. See Upload your first documents if you haven’t added it yet.
- The email address the recipient will use to open the signature link. The recipient doesn’t need a Paperplane account.
Steps
- Open the PDF in your archive that you want signed.
- Select Request signature on the document.
- Enter the recipient’s email address. Each request goes to one recipient; for more than one signer, create a separate request for each person.
- Select Send signature request. You don’t set a deadline yourself: every request can be signed for 30 days from the moment you send it.
- Paperplane emails the recipient a protected signature link. The dialog also shows the complete link once so you can copy it — it isn’t shown again.
- The request appears under Signatures with the status Open.
Expected result
The recipient receives an email with a protected link to the document. Under Signatures you see the request as open and can track its progress as the recipient verifies their email address, signs, and — for a simple signature or an uploaded signed PDF — waits for your review.
Common problems
- The recipient says they never received the email. Confirm the email address you entered is correct, and ask the recipient to check spam or junk folders. If delivery failed, the dialog tells you so — send the link you copied to the recipient yourself.
- You need to cancel a request after sending it. You can revoke the link at any time until the request is completed. See Review and manage signature submissions.
- You’re not sure which signing method the recipient will see. Recipients can sign directly in the browser with a simple electronic signature, or upload a PDF they have already signed.
- The 30 days passed before the recipient signed. The request moves to expired. See Resolve signature link problems.