Many documents need more than one signature: a lease with several tenants, a partnership agreement, a consent form signed by both parents, a purchase approval signed by a manager and finance. Collecting them one by one by email often goes wrong: someone signs an old version, a signature gets overwritten, or the final file is missing a page.
Decide: sequential or parallel?
- Sequential: each person signs in a set order, and the document passes from one to the next. Common when order matters, such as an approval chain.
- Parallel: everyone signs their own copy at the same time, and you combine the results. Faster, but you end up with several files.
For most small-team documents, sequential signing of a single file is simpler and leaves one clean final copy.
Prepare the document first
Before anyone signs:
- Finalise the content. Signing a draft causes problems later.
- Add a clearly labelled signature area for each person, with name, date and role.
- Flatten or lock anything that should not change. See how to flatten a PDF.
- Name the file with a version, for example
Lease-14-Elm-Road-FINAL-v3.pdf.
If you want people to sign in specific fields, see how to add a signature field to a PDF form.
The simple manual route
For a handful of signers, this works without special software:
- Sign first yourself, if you are a signer.
- Send the PDF to the next person with a clear instruction: "Please sign in the second box, save, and send it to Maria."
- Each person adds their signature and passes it on.
- The last person sends the completed file back to everyone.
Ask each signer not to change anything else, and to save rather than "print to PDF", which can flatten earlier signatures into images in unexpected ways.
Each signer can add their signature in a browser tool such as Docento.app, which works on the file locally without uploading it. Guides for each device: Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android.
When to use an e-signature service
For many signers, regulated documents or when you need an audit trail showing who signed when, a dedicated e-signature platform is worth it. It routes the document automatically, sends reminders, and produces a certificate of completion. For legal background, see is it legal to sign documents electronically?.
Digital signatures and order
If signers use certificate-based digital signatures, order matters: adding content after a digital signature can invalidate it. Have everyone sign the final version, and avoid edits between signatures. See digital signatures vs electronic signatures.
Check the final copy
When the last signature is in, open the file and check every signature, name and date is present and on the correct page. Then send the final copy to all parties and store it safely.
Takeaway
Finalise the document, label a signature area for each person, route it sequentially with clear instructions, and check the final file before sending it to everyone. Use an e-signature service when you need reminders, many signers or an audit trail.
