Bulk signing sends the same PDF to a list of people, each in their own envelope. Upload the PDF and a spreadsheet of signers, place the signing fields once, and ActiveMerge sends a separate signing request to every row, such as a policy to all staff or an agreement to every client.
For sending a single document, see Sending documents for e-signature.
Before you start: the signer file
Prepare a CSV or Excel file (.csv, .xlsx or .xls) with a header row and one row per envelope, up to 500 rows.
One signer per envelope. You need an Email column and either a Name column or a First Name column (with an optional Last Name).
Name,Email,Title
Ada Lovelace,ada@example.com,Director of Engineering
Grace Hopper,grace@example.com,Head of Research
Several signers per envelope. Number the columns by signer, up to 5 signers: signer_1_name, signer_1_email, signer_2_name, signer_2_email, and so on.
Extra details. Any other column is kept with the signer, and fields in the document can fill in from it:
- These columns are recognised as signer details: Title (or Job Title), Company, Phone, Address, City, State, Postal Code and Country.
- Any other column (for example Employee ID or Start Date) is kept too, as a custom detail named after the column.
- Prefix a column with
signer_2_to give it to one signer only. Columns without a prefix apply to every signer in that row.
If a field in the document fills in from a detail that a row leaves empty, that signer simply types it in themselves. The envelope still goes out.
Step 1: Upload
- Go to Signatures and click New Request.
- Upload your PDF and tick Send this PDF to multiple people.
- Upload the signer file.
- Choose your options:
- Include me as signer 1: adds you to every envelope as the first signer, with the file’s signers after you. It’s on by default. Untick it if you’re only sending.
- Email me about this batch: on by default. Untick it to stop the emails you’d otherwise get for every envelope (see Emails).
- Use signing order: signers are invited one at a time, in order, instead of all at once.
- Add a Title and an optional Message to Signers for the invitation email, and click Create Draft.
Step 2: Place the fields once
You land on the batch page. Click Prepare document to open the first signer’s envelope in the signing editor.
Place the fields where they belong (signature, date, initials, text) for each signer, then click Send. That layout is copied to every other envelope, and they’re sent in the background. Refresh the batch page to watch the progress.
Useful fields:
- A date field set to fill in the signing date fills in automatically for every signer when they sign.
- A text field set to prefill from a signer detail (such as Title) is filled from that signer’s column in your file.
Step 3: Follow progress
The batch page shows how many envelopes are Sent, Signed, Failed and Remaining, and lists every row with its status. Click View on a row to open that envelope.
If a row fails, the reason is shown at the top, for example “Row 3: … Ken Plourde is missing title”. Fix the cause and send that person a new request.
On the main Signatures page, each batch appears as a single row, “Bulk · 250 envelopes”, with how many are signed. Click View batch to see every envelope. Searching for a signer’s name or email finds the batch they’re in, and the Pending, Completed and Closed tabs place a batch by its envelopes:
- Pending: still sending, or at least one envelope is waiting for signatures.
- Completed: nothing is waiting and at least one envelope is fully signed.
- Closed: nothing is waiting and none were signed.
Emails
Every signer gets their invitation, automatic reminders, a confirmation when they’ve signed, and the signed PDF when their envelope is complete.
As the sender, with Email me about this batch on, you get the signed PDF for each completed envelope. If you included yourself as a signer, you also get an invitation and a confirmation for each one. For a big batch that’s a lot of email.
Turn Email me about this batch off and none of those come to you. Everything is still on the batch page: each row where it’s your turn to sign has a Sign link, and you can download each signed PDF from its envelope. Your signers’ emails aren’t affected.
Credits
Each envelope costs 10 credits, charged when it’s sent. A batch of 250 envelopes, including the first one you prepare in the editor, uses 2,500 credits. If you run out part-way, the remaining rows stop and show as failed.
Cancelling
Open an envelope and click Cancel Request to stop it. This works whether or not the signing service had finished sending it. If everyone has already signed, it can no longer be cancelled.