In SignatureAPI, places are areas in a document where recipients sign, enter information, or where details, such as dates, are automatically added. The signature place is one of such places.

There are There are two ways to position places: fixed positions (coordinates) and placeholders within the document. In this example, we will show how to position a signature place using fixed positions.

For this example, we will create an envelope with:

  • One recipient (of type signer), identified with the key visitor.
  • The visitor signs a single PDF document.
  • The document will have one signature place, identified with the key signer_signs_here, that will be signed by the recipient visitor and will be added during the envelope creation using fixed positions.

All other envelope settings use the default configuration:

  • The recipient will receive an email with a link to sign.
  • The account’s default language, timezone, and timestamp format used.

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Prepare your Document

The first step in the process is creating a PDF or DOCX file to upload.

For this example, we prepared a document, where we put a line in the second page where we would like to place the signature.

Example document

Download the PDF used in this example.

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Locate the Coordinates

Fixed positions can be defined by specifying the page number, along with distances from the top of the page (top) and from the left side of the page (left), measured in points (1/72 of an inch).

One of the main problems when using Fixed Positions is finding the exact coordinates. You can use any tool that indicates the position in points like image editors, or build your own. For this task, SignatureAPI provides a simple tool that helps, just open the file and click on the point you want.

The key of the place will be signer_signs_here, and the position will be available at the sidebar.

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Create the Envelope

When creating the envelope, add the array of fixed positions inside the document, and add the signature place object to the places array inside the document object, with the following properties:

  • key: Identifies the place within the document. Must match what you decided to use, in this case: signer_signs_here.
  • type: As this is a signature place, use the value signature.
  • recipient_key: The key of the recipient who will sign. Here, it’s visitor.
// POST https://api.signatureapi.com/v1/envelopes
// X-Api-Key: <Your API Key>

{
    "title": "Dummy Consent",
    "message": "Please review and sign the Dummy Privacy Policy for internal testing purposes. This document is not legally binding and is used solely for demonstration\n\nThank you for your cooperation.",
    "documents": [
        {
            "url": "https://pub-9cb75390636c4a8a83a6f76da33d7f45.r2.dev/privacy-fixed.pdf",
            "fixed_positions": [
                {
                    "place_key": "signer_signs_here",
                    "page": 2,
                    "top": 471,
                    "left": 73
                }
            ],
            "places": [
                {
                    "key": "signer_signs_here",
                    "type": "signature",
                    "recipient_key": "visitor"
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "recipients": [
        {
            "type": "signer",
            "key": "visitor",
            "name": "John Doe",
            "email": "john@example.com"
        }
    ]
}

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Result

If successful, SignatureAPI will send John Doe (the recipient) an email with a link to sign. John can click the link and place his signature on the signature line.

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Try It

Try this example in Postman using your test API key to create a free, non-binding test envelope. Test envelopes won’t send emails, but you can review them in your dashboard.

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