This article will walk you through what to do if you see both the signatures and the signature tags on a completed document.
What is White Ink in eSignature Contracts?
eSignature providers detect signature tags in documents by having a signature tag code that is in white ink. For example, [counterpartySigner123] would display in Ironclad in white ink, but is not otherwise visible to the naked eye in a word editor or PDF.
Occasionally, signers may report incorrect tag behavior during the Sign step. Most often, you see both your signature and the signature tags on the completed contract, when you should only see the signature.
What Should I Do If I See Both the Signatures and the Signature Tags on a Completed Document?
This can be caused by two things:
- The signature tags are incorrectly in black ink. If you would like a clean version of the document, the best option is to revert to Review and upload a new document version that has the signature tags correctly in white ink. You can then send out the contract for signature.
- Your counterparty shared a version of their document with you, and it has white ink signature tags from their own signature provider that you were not aware existed on the document. You might not detect these additional tags until a signer goes to sign. The best way to resolve this is to Revert to Review, upload a new document version that only has the set of signature tags you want, and delete the other white ink signature tags. You can then send out the contract for signature. A good way to avoid this issue is to check your counterparty’s contract version of a document for signature tags while in the Review step.
If the problem persists, so long as you still have the evidence sheet capturing the signature time and other metadata, this visual glitch of simultaneously seeing the signature and tags should not impact legal enforceability.