When a form requires a signature, a panel headed Signature appears at the bottom of the form, marked (Required). Draw your signature in the box with a mouse, trackpad or finger, or click Type Signature and type your name to have it rendered in script. Then click Submit Response. The response cannot be submitted until the box has something in it.
Participants are labelled Clients, Students, Residents or Explorers depending on the account type. This article calls them participants.
Who can do this, and where
Anyone filling the form signs it: team members in the web app, participants and outside responders using a link or invitation, and people using the Equip mobile app.
Signatures are available on custom forms only. A PDF document form has no Require Signature setting, because the signature belongs in the PDF's own fields.
Turning Require Signature on or off needs the Forms module set to Administrator on your role, or account owner access.
Forms is turned on for your account by the Equip team. If you do not see Forms in the left menu, ask us to enable it.
Sign a form
Answer the questions on the form. Required questions are marked and must be filled before submitting.
Scroll to the Signature panel at the bottom. It reads "Please sign below to confirm that the information provided is accurate and complete."
To draw: sign directly in the grey box using your mouse, trackpad or finger.
To type: click Type Signature, then type your name in the field that appears. It is rendered in a handwriting script as you type. Click Draw Signature to go back to drawing.
If you make a mistake, click Clear and start again.
Click Submit Response.
Team members filling the form also see a Save & Finish Later button and, on a brand new response, a toggle to start another submission straight afterwards. Saving for later does not need a signature.
Turn the requirement on for a form
Click Forms in the left navigation and open the form.
Click the three-dot menu and choose Edit Form.
Open Preferences and turn on Require Signature, whose helper text reads "Would you like to require responders to sign?"
Click Update Form.
Limits and what the errors mean
An empty signature blocks submission. Submitting without one shows "There was an error submitting the response! Please check the form for errors." and outlines the signature panel in red. Nothing is lost, so sign and submit again.
Save & Finish Later does not need a signature. The response is kept as In Progress, and a signature you had already drawn is restored when you come back to finish it.
A signed, completed response cannot be edited by most people. On a form that requires a signature, team members see no Edit Response button once the response is Completed, so the signed record stays as signed. Account owners are the exception and can still open it.
Awaiting Approval and Approved responses are locked for everyone, including account owners. An approver has to deny the response before it can be corrected.
A denied response has to be signed again. Opening it shows "A new signature is required when resubmitting this response." Resubmitting without signing fails with "Signature is required when resubmitting a denied response." The old signature is not reused.
Assigning a subject afterwards is not possible when the form requires both a subject and a signature. The subject has to be chosen while the form is being filled in.
The approver's signature is separate. On an approval-required form the approver signs their own panel, headed Approver Signature, when they approve. That is required whether or not responders have to sign.
Once submitted, the signature appears in a Signature section on the response, and it is included when the response is downloaded as a PDF.
A signature is an image of what was drawn or typed. Equip does not verify identity, and there is no way to edit or re-draw a signature on a submitted response.
FAQ
Where is the signature box?
At the very bottom of the form, below the questions and any attachments, in a panel headed Signature and marked (Required). If there is no panel, the form does not require a signature.
Can I type my name instead of drawing it?
Yes. Click Type Signature and type your name, and it appears in a handwriting script. Click Draw Signature to switch back. Either counts as a signature.
I can't submit the form and I don't know why.
Check the signature box first, since an empty one blocks submission and the error message is generic. Then look for required questions and, if the form requires it, a selected subject. Everything that is missing is marked on the page.
Can I sign on a phone or tablet?
Yes. Draw with your finger in the box, or type your name instead. The box resizes with the screen, so sign after the page has settled rather than while it is still loading.
Can I edit a form after I sign and submit it?
No, not on a form that requires a signature. The response is locked as submitted, which is the point of collecting the signature. Ask an account owner if a correction is genuinely needed, or have an approver deny it if the form uses approval.
My response was denied. Do I have to sign again?
Yes. Equip deliberately does not carry the old signature across, so open the response with Edit and Resubmit, make your corrections, and sign again before resubmitting.
Can I require a signature on a PDF form?
No. The Require Signature setting only exists on custom forms. A PDF document form is signed inside the PDF's own signature field, if it has one.
Does the signature show up on the downloaded PDF?
Yes. The signature is included in the PDF export of the response, alongside the answers, and so is the approver's signature if the response went through approval.
Related
Filling a Form
Create a form
Save & Finish Later for Forms
Require approval before a form response is final
Why can't I find, edit or download a form response?