Documents is available on Business and Enterprise, with unlimited sends. It also runs inside a Flow: a step that sends the document with the run's data already filled in. That part has its own guide, Documents in a Flow.
Overview
The whole path in six steps
Upload your PDF as a model
The contract or proposal you already use, exported from Canva or Word, becomes a model in your library.
Say who signs and what to ask them
Name the people (client, office, guarantor) and add what each one fills in when signing, such as an ID number.
Drag the signature blocks onto the pages
Signature, name and date in one move, plus the fields that change at each send.
Send in two steps
Who signs this time, then the data, the message and a preview of the real PDF.
The client signs on the phone
A personal link by e-mail, no account, nothing to install. You see when it was opened and signed.
The PDF comes back with proof
Signature certificate, digital seal with ICP-Brasil certificate, trusted timestamp and a QR code anyone can verify.
Models
Your PDFs become models
The Models tab is your library. Each card is a document prepared once and sent as many times as you need, and keeps its place in a folder. A model says whether it is Ready to send or still To prepare, and ready ones have a Send button right on the card.
Step 1 · Upload
Add a model: the PDF you already use
Click New model and choose the PDF, up to 20 MB and 40 pages, portrait or landscape. Give it a name and say what it is: Contract, Proposal or Other. Cadenio keeps your design exactly as it is and writes the data and signatures on top of it.
Step 1 · Who signs
Say who signs this model
A new model starts with the people that fit what it is. A contract gets a Contracting party, who signs by a personal link, and the Office, which signs inside Cadenio (whoever sends is the one who signs). A proposal gets a Client and the Office. Rename them, add more people such as a guarantor or a witness, and choose for each outside person whether the link goes by e-mail or you send it yourself.
Step 1 · Ask the signer
Ask for what you need when they sign
Under Ask when signing, the Add a field button opens suggestions you have not used yet (ID document, address, phone, company, job title) and a box to name one of your own. The person fills it in on their phone, and the answer is printed on the signed page next to their signature.
Step 2 · Place
Fields you fill in at each send
A send field is a value you type every time you send, such as the contract amount. Drag it onto the line of the PDF where it belongs, name it in the panel on the right and choose its type (text, date, number or currency). You also say where its value comes from: typed by you at each send, the name of a signer, filled on sending (such as the date) or calculated from another field. The send asks for what is typed, and the preview shows it in place.
Step 2 · Place
Drag the signature blocks onto the page
Pick a person on the left and drag the Signature block to where they sign: signature, name, date and what you asked, in one move. Items are added only by dragging, never by a stray click. Select a box to move it with the arrow keys, duplicate it, delete it or give it a light backing so it reads over a photo. When every person has a place to sign, the model turns Ready.
Tools
What you can drag onto the page
- Send field
- A value you fill in at each send, with a name and a type. Shown as a field in the send and printed where you dropped it.
- Item table
- A table for the items, services or installments of each send. You name its columns (up to six, each text, number or money) and, if you want, a total line. The send has an editor for the rows, and the PDF draws them formatted, continuing on an added page if they do not fit.
- Fixed text
- Text that is the same every time, such as a clause or a note.
- Signature block
- Signature, name and date of one person together, plus anything you asked them. The fastest way to place a signature.
- Signature, Name, Date
- The same pieces, one at a time, when the layout needs them apart.
- Asked field
- One of the fields you added under Ask when signing, printed where you choose.
- Signatures page
- If the PDF has no room to sign, one click adds a page after the last one, laid out for everyone.
Step 3 · Send
Send: who signs this time
From a ready model, click Send. The place of each person is already in the model, so the send only asks for who signs this time: name and e-mail of the client and, for the office, who signs. What you asked the signer shows below, with a link to change it for this send only.
Step 3 · Send
Data, message and a preview of the real PDF
The second step asks for the send fields and shows the real PDF being built as you type, with the values in place and the number as it will print. Add a subject and a message for the e-mail, choose how long the link lasts (15 days by default) and click Send for signature. Use Adjust positions only if this one send needs a different layout.
The client's side
The client opens a personal link
The client gets an e-mail with a button, opens the document on the phone and reads it page by page. The link is personal: no account to create and nothing to install. The bar at the bottom says how many spots are theirs and on which page.
The client's side
Signing takes a minute
Tapping Sign asks the client to confirm it is them. Then they fill in what you asked, draw or type the signature and accept. Under Changes they can ask for changes, and from the menu they can decline, in both cases with a message to you.
Track
Follow every step
The send page shows each person with when it was sent, opened and signed. From here you can copy the link, send a reminder (one per hour for each person), change an e-mail that bounced, cancel the send or sign for the office with Sign now. You also get an e-mail at each response. The Sent tab lists every send with filters such as Waiting for signature, Changes requested, Undelivered, Expiring in 3 days and Signed this month.
Track
Every send on the Sent tab
The Sent tab lists everything you sent, with its status and who is still to sign. Filters get you to what needs you: To sign (what is waiting for you), Waiting for signature, Changes requested, Undelivered, Expiring in 3 days, Signed this month, Declined and Drafts.
Track
When the client asks for changes
If the client asks for changes, the send is marked Changes requested and their message appears on top. Fix the data, click Fix the data and send a new version, and each person keeps the same link, which now opens the new version. Signatures given on the previous version no longer count.
The status of a send
What each label on the Sent tab and on the send page means.
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Draft | Prepared but not sent yet. You find it again on the Sent tab. |
| Waiting for signature | Sent. Someone has not signed yet. |
| Changes requested | A person asked for changes. Correct the data and send a new version. |
| Signed | Everyone signed. The signed PDF with its certificate is ready. |
| Declined | A person declined and said why. |
| Canceled | You canceled the send. The links stop taking signatures. |
| Expired | The link lasted its days and nobody finished. |
The signed PDF
Everyone signed: signatures on the page
When the last person signs, everyone gets the signed PDF by e-mail and it stays on the send page. Each signature, name, date and asked field is printed where the model placed it, on a light backing that reads over photos and colors.
The signed PDF
The PDF comes back with proof
The last page is the signature certificate: who signed, how the link was sent, when it was sent, opened and signed, IP, device and a token per signature. Over the whole file goes a digital seal with an ICP-Brasil certificate and a trusted timestamp. Any change to the file breaks the seal.
Verify
Anyone can verify it
The QR code on the certificate opens the verification page. It shows who signed and when, and checks a PDF against the signed one without sending the file anywhere: same file, no changes.
What the signed PDF carries
- Signatures on the page
- Each person's signature, name, date and asked data where the model placed them, on a light backing that reads over photos.
- Signature certificate
- The last page: document, version, code, and for each signer the method, sent, opened and signed times, IP, device and a token.
- Digital seal
- A PAdES signature with an ICP-Brasil certificate over the whole file. PDF readers such as Adobe show it as signed and unchanged.
- Timestamp
- An RFC 3161 timestamp from a trusted authority, proving when the file was sealed.
- QR code
- Opens the public verification page for that version.
Tips for models that work
- Export, then uploadUse the PDF from Canva or Word as it is. Portrait or landscape, up to 20 MB and 40 pages.
- One block per personDrag a Signature block for each person. If the PDF has no room, add a Signatures page.
- Fixed text for what repeats, send fields for what changesClauses and notes are Fixed text. Amounts, dates and terms are send fields.
- Change positions in the modelMove a box once in the model and every next send uses it. Adjusting positions in a send is for a one-off, and it does not overwrite the model unless you ask.
- Name models by what they are“Services agreement” is enough: each send is titled with the model and the client's name.
Sending the same contract from a process? Put it in a Flow: a step sends the document with the client's name, e-mail and the amounts already filled in from the run, and the signed PDF returns to the step. See Documents in a Flow.
Common questions
Does the client need a Cadenio account?
No. The client signs through a personal link, on the phone or computer, without creating an account or installing anything.
Is the signature an ICP-Brasil signature?
The people sign electronically, with the evidence on the certificate. The ICP-Brasil certificate is Cadenio's seal over the finished PDF, which proves the file was not changed after signing.
Can I use the PDF I already have?
Yes. Contracts and proposals exported from Canva or Word, portrait or landscape, up to 20 MB and 40 pages. Cadenio writes the data and the signatures on top of your design.
Can I fix something after sending?
Yes. Open the send, click Fix the data and send a new version, and each person keeps the same link, which now opens the new one. Signatures on the previous version do not carry over.
Can the client ask for changes or decline?
Yes. On the signing page they can ask for changes or decline, in both cases with a message. You see it on the send page and get an e-mail.
How long does the link last?
15 days by default, and you can change it in the second step of the send. The Sent tab has a filter for what expires in 3 days.
An e-mail bounced. What now?
The person shows as undelivered. Click Change e-mail on the send page, fix the address and the link goes again, or copy the link and send it yourself.
Can I send a PDF without making a model?
Yes. Quick send takes a PDF for that one send only, and you place the boxes in the send itself. If you will send it again, make it a model.
Which plans include Documents?
Business and Enterprise, with unlimited sends.