This document is about cool stuff you can do with Contracts that you upload as Word documents, but you can also Add fields to PDF Contracts.

First things first: you need to upload your Word Contract before you can format it. If you haven't done that step yet, no worries. Just go check out the Creating your Contract document real quick.

When you upload your Word Contract or open an uploaded Word Contract, you see the document in the Contract editor with a panel on the right side for Contract Properties, as you can see.

If you click anywhere on the Contract, a paragraph symbol appears on the left side of the text. That's the Section Type button where you can format the text. You also see a button with a plus sign to the right of the text. That's the Insert button where you can add tables, tokens, and different kinds of fields to your Contract.

Formatting Text

The Section Type button lets you choose to make text into a heading or a list, but those aren't your only options:

If you highlight text, a panel of formatting tools appears. These are the same kinds of basic editing tools you're probably used to from lots of programs: things like font size, bold, and highlighting. This is also where you can add a hyperlink to your Contract. Tip: Click the Tx button all the way on the right to remove formatting from the text you highlighted.

Wherever you click or highlight, you can go to the Formatting tab in the right panel. The options on this panel change depending on what you select. For example, if you click on a numbered list, then the Formatting tab gives you options for how the numbering works, but if you select a heading, this tab has options for margins and padding. The Formatting tab is also where you can add an anchor to your Contract so that you can link directly to a particular section.

The menu that appears when you click the Insert button holds the power to add tables, images, page breaks, and tokens to your Contract. (Also fields, but we're getting to that in the next section.)
If you're comfortable formatting documents through HTML and CSS, you can always go into the source code of the Contract. Pause your mouse pointer over the three dots in the upper-right and choose Edit HTML.

Inserting Tables, Images, and Page Breaks

Click anywhere in the Contract and the Insert button (plus sign to the right of the line of text) appears. Click that button, and a menu appears where you can insert a table, image, or page break into your document.

Tables

When you click the Table menu option, a 2x2-cell table pops in to your document where your cursor was. You can drag the lines to change the size of the table or the columns, and you can click the gear icon to add or remove columns and rows.

Images

Click the image menu option to pop up a window where you can navigate your files to find the image that you want to insert. The image you select shows up in the document right where your cursor was, and you can drag the corners or sides to re-size it.

Page Break

Choose the page break to insert dotted line that represents a page break. Obviously a page break doesn't mean very much on a web page, where Signers can just scroll through as much text as they need to. However, when a Signer downloads a Contract to save for their own reference, PactSafe uses the page breaks you inserted to help format the PDF.

Inserting Tokens

After the formatting buttons is the Insert Token button. Tokens are awesome placeholder values in your Contract. You can set up a Token so that the person sending the Contract fills them in as part of the sending process, or you can use the API to automatically replace with Signer-specific values when you send the Signature Request. See the How to use Dynamic Contracts with the JavaScript Library document in the Developer Documentation.

Inserting Fields

The Insert button has all these tools for making your Contract look great, but it's also where you can add the fields that the Sender or the Contract Recipients fill out with information specific to this particular signing. Just put your cursor where you want the field to appear, click the Insert button, and choose Fields from the menu.

A field pops right in to the Contract, and then you can configure it on the Fields tab in the right panel:

This is the place to exert your control over the field you just added:

Enter a Label. If you give a field a label, PactSafe updates the field's API Name, which you can use to access the field using API code. Tip: The label doesn't appear on the Contract, so make sure to type in the words that you want your recipients to see next to the field.
Choose the field Type. You can choose Checkbox, Date, Dropdown, Signature, or Text. See the description below.
Choose whether the field is Required.
Choose whether the field is Read Only. When people send this Contract as part of a Signature Request, they'll need to assign every field to Signer to fill out. Tip: If you make a field both Required and Read Only, you have to provide a default value or else PactSafe won't let you send the Contract.

Back to the Type field. Your options are:

Checkbox. For checkboxes, you can decide whether the checkbox is selected or not by default.
Date. The Contract Recipient will see the current date by default, but you can change the default value to a particular date.
Acceptance Date. This special field type automatically populates with the date when the Signer accepts the Contract. No other inputs required!
Dropdown. When you choose Dropdown you enter the options that the Recipient can choose from. If you want to, you can select one of the options to be the default value.
Attachment. An attachment field becomes an Upload an Attachment button when the Signer looks at the Contract. You might use this button, for example, when the Contract is an application where the Signer needs to attach a resume or headshot or if the Contract is an employment agreement where the new employee needs to attach tax forms or direct deposit information.
Signature. Just like it sounds: a field where a Signer signs the Contract.
Initials. Similar to Signature, except the Signer puts in their initials.
Text. Adds a text field where Recipients can type in whatever. You can click and drag the lower-right corner of a Text field to change the size of the field.

For the Date, Dropdown, Signature, and Text fields, you can control how wide the field is by clicking and dragging the right side of the field. For Text fields, you can also control how tall the field is by doing the same thing at the bottom of the field. You can delete a field by pressing the Delete button on your keyboard.

Tip: Don't forget to click Save at the bottom of the Fields tab when you make changes to the field configuration.

Questions? Just start a chat with us or send us an email at help@pactsafe.com.