Create a contract draft from PDF file
Creating a contract draft from a PDF file accessible to your company requires specific permissions. To create a draft directly in a shared contract space, you must be the creator of the space or have rights to "Manage contracts" within that specific space. To create drafts in company-wide contract views, you need enabled user permissions to "Manage all contracts".
Choose your PDF contract draft's location
To learn where to create a contract draft from a PDF file to best fit your workflow, you can choose from several locations based on your contract management needs.
Navigate to private contract views, like the default My contracts view, to create new drafts for personal uses.
Navigate to a company-wide type of contract view, like the default All contracts view, to create drafts visible to the whole company. All company users with enabled permissions to "Manage all contracts" in the company will be able to see, edit, and send the new draft for signatures.
Navigate to a specific contract space to create a draft directly within it. You must be the creator of the space or have the required “Manage contracts” shared access to the space in order to use this option.
Upload your PDF file
Once you have decided on the location, you can quickly upload your PDF file to start drafting.
Click the Contracts tab from the main navigation menu at the top of the screen.
Select your preferred contract view or contract space from the left-hand sidebar.
Click the blue Create and sign button located in the top right corner. If you are inside an empty contract space, you can also use the direct button located in the center of the page to start adding drafts in there.
Select Sign a PDF from the dropdown menu to initiate the upload process.
Choose either Draw to sign or Use other methods from the dialog box options.
Confirm your choice by clicking the blue Continue button.
Draft using the "Draw to sign" method
This option lets you place signature, text and data fields directly on top of the PDF document and sign it with a hand-drawn signature.
Choose or drag and drop your PDF file from your computer into the blue upload area.
Click Add or edit party or signee button from the Parties and signees sidebar on the right side of the screen to manage the details of all parties who need to sign.
Click the +Add party button at the top to create an additional private or company type of party.
Click the +Add signee button to create additional signees representing each of the existing parties.
Click Add data field from the top formatting toolbar to select and place an existing data field onto the PDF, or create a new data field.
Click Add text box from the top toolbar to place a standard text area on the PDF draft.
If you want to enrich the PDF contract with a data field instead of the added plain text, click Convert to data field from the menu above the text box to automatically turn it into an existing data field, or create a new data field based on the text input.
If the Review and sign button at the top of the PDF draft is gray, you need to add signature fields on top of the PDF.
Click the Add signature button from the top formatting toolbar and select a signee's name from the dropdown list.
All signees you have added to a company type of party will be listed at the top of the list, and all signees you have added to a private type of party will appear under “Private” label at the bottom of the list:
Drag and place the signature field on the PDF exactly where you want the signee's signature to appear once they sign.
Modify the size of the signature field if needed, directly in the PDF’s body by dragging the lower right-hand corner of the field until it turns into a resizable arrow.
Click on the placed signature field to show the action menu directly above it. You can click the dropdown menu to reassign the field to a different signee, or click the trash icon to delete it.
Click the green Review and sign button in the top right corner when your PDF draft is ready to be finalized.
Clicking this button takes you to a dedicated contract review page where you can double-check all contract details, add custom message to recipients and set up signing orders if needed.
Draft using the "Use other methods" method
This option allows you to upload a PDF as a static attachment and use Contractbook draft’s editor for the rest of the contract elements.
Drag and drop your PDF file from your computer into the attachment upload area within the document body.
Modify the title of your contract draft using the Document title field.
Add your company logo to the top right corner of the draft.
Click the Add or edit party or signee button in the right-hand sidebar to define the contract parties and signees representing them.
Click the green Review and sign button in the top right corner when you are ready to proceed to the contract Review page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between "Draw to sign" and "Use other methods"?
If you want to place signature fields directly on the uploaded PDF document and use a hand-drawn signature, choose the "Draw to sign" method. If you want to use the PDF as a static attachment to a Contractbook draft and choose a different signature method (like SMS verification, MitID or BankID), select "Use other methods".
Can a recipient sign the PDF in multiple places?
Yes. When using the "Draw to sign" method, you can add more than one signature field for the same signee. The signature process happens only once for the recipient, automatically replacing all their assigned signature fields with a timestamped green-colored field.
Can I edit a PDF contract after it was sent for signature?
Once a contract draft is sent for signature and its status has changed to pending, you can no longer edit it. If you need to make changes, you must pull the contract back to draft mode.
How can I add data fields to my PDF?
When using the "Draw to sign" method, you can click Add field from the top formatting toolbar to place text, number, date, or checkbox fields directly on the PDF. You can then assign these empty fields to a recipient added as a signee, guiding them to fill the information out before they sign. Learn more in our guide on assigning data and metadata fields.
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