by Elesha Piper for Meridian Linguistics
**Update** Meridian Linguistics has just partnered with ABBYY to get our linguists a discount on FineReader! We use this remarkable software every day for multilingual OCR (mostly turning PDF text to editable Microsoft Word texts for word counting or CAT tool purposes) and advanced PDF editing, as well as the signature capabilities Elesha describes below.
**Update** Discounts and trials (subject to Adobe’s availability for your region) now also available for Adobe Acrobat DC! Scroll down for more details.
Signing Contracts Your Clients Send You
Signing PDF contracts and confidentiality agreements can be a serious challenge for remote translators, digital nomads, or any freelancer without easy access to a printer and scanner. When working from the road it can be hard enough to find a cafe with decent wifi, let alone a print shop with a decent scanner (also, who even prints anything anymore?)
To make things worse, in the translation world, contract signing is usually very urgent. In many cases the client can’t even show the translator a sample of what they should expect until the translator has confirmed complete confidentiality. This means the client must wait for you to sign the contract in order to be able to confirm the rush job.
If you want to stay ahead of your more technology-savvy competition, you need to become familiar with the electronic (or digital) signature. Introducing an e-signature platform to your freelancing business will streamline your document workflow practices and allow you to execute a legally binding digital contract quicker than you can say “check your inbox.”
You can now take your pick from a swag of programs and platforms that give you the ability to sign documents electronically.
In this post, we’ll take you through some of the most popular choices. While we’ve included some free options, it is worth investing in a paid solution for that competitive advantage. Because in the end, if you can sign faster, it might just win the you job.
Prices are in USD.
First, let’s start with 2 basic, free options you can use to sign a PDF contract you’ve been sent on email:
Printer but no scanner?
Finally, if you have a printer but no scanner, print the contract, sign it, then use one of these snappy apps to create professional-looking scan using your mobile phone’s camera.
Creating Your Own Contracts From Scratch
Now let’s take a look at the e-signature programs and software offering comprehensive business solutions, which include the creation of contracts, workflow management, and digital signatures.
It is a good idea to protect yourself as a freelancer or LSP, and one way to do this is to have legal counsel help you draft your own freelance service contract to offer to clients. This way you can write a contract that specifically protects your own interests. These software offerings will let you design contracts and send them for easy signature to your clients or freelancers.
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Adobe Sign
Cost: Starting at $14.99 per month. Free trial available.
If you will be writing or editing the contract yourself, Adobe Sign speeds up the whole process of executing contracts. It allows you to take a document, insert the fields to be signed off and distribute to recipients for digital signature. Recipients won’t need to download any software to sign, just click a link and sign the document in a browser.
Adobe Sign also has a handy iOS mobile app for on the spot signing.
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DocuSign
Cost: from $10 per month. Free trial available.
Another solution for if creating contracts, DocuSign is a user-friendly, digital transaction platform allowing you to manage and execute legally binding documents securely in the cloud.
Upload the contract to DocuSign and use the tool to insert signature boxes into the spot you want the autograph. Put the email details of the recipients in and DocuSign sends off the document for their e-signature.
Recipients can either type their signature in or if using a device, sign using their finger or a screen marker. There’s also a handy dashboard to tell you the status of your contracts an automatic nudge sent to recipients who need an extra reminder to sign.
Check out more detail on the DocuSign process here
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HelloSign
Cost: Free option and paid plans start at $13.00 per month
HelloSign is an affordable e-signature solution. Echoing DocuSign in its simplicity, you just input the email details of the recipient and upload the contract to HelloSign.
From the top toolbar, add the blocks you want to be inserted into the document; signature field, dates, checkboxes etc. To sign, you have a few options – type your name in, upload an image or use your mouse to draw it.
If you’re using a device, download HelloSign’s mobile app then sign your name on the touchscreen. You only need to do it once and your signature is stored for the next time around!
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Foxit Software
Cost: Plans start at $9.00 per month or $139.00 one-time purchase.
Foxit Software suite of solutions includes Foxit Web Forms which allows you to quickly turn a PDF contract into an interactive web form which supports electronic signatures. Send the link of the interactive web form to recipients, they click the link and enter their electronic signature, all in the browser, no downloads necessary. Simple.
Read more on Foxit Web Forms here
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If you can recommend any other solutions or notice that any of these solutions is out of date, please leave us a comment!
This post contains affiliate links, but we only ever recommend products we can vouch for ourselves.
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