Sign a document you received

Got a Pacta email asking you to sign? This is what to expect, what's safe to ignore, and what makes a Pacta signature actually mean something.

Last updated May 12, 2026

You don’t need a Pacta account to sign a document someone sent you. Pacta sends you a personalized link, you sign, and you walk away with a verified PDF in your inbox. No software to install, no account to remember.

What the email looks like

The email arrives from the sender’s verified domain (e.g., contracts@circularpayments.com) — not a generic Pacta address. Subject line is the document title plus “needs your signature.”

Inside, you’ll see:

  • The sender’s name and any custom message they added
  • A big primary button: Review and sign
  • A direct link as a fallback (if the button doesn’t work for any reason)

Worried about phishing? Hover over the button. The link should point at sign.pacta.ink/sign/... with a long unique token. If it points anywhere else, don’t click — forward the email to your IT team.

Step 1 — Open the document

Click Review and sign. You’ll land on the Pacta signing page with the PDF rendered in your browser. You don’t need to download anything.

The signing page shows:

  • The full document, scrollable
  • Color-highlighted boxes where you need to act (signatures, dates, text fields)
  • A counter at the top right: “Field 1 of 4” so you know your progress
  • Sender details + a “View certificate” link if you want to verify authenticity before signing

Step 2 — Move through the fields

Click each highlighted field to fill it in. Pacta autoscrolls and keyboards-tabs in the right order so you can move quickly:

  • Signature fields — draw with your mouse, type your name in cursive, or upload an image. All three create a cryptographically valid signature; pick whichever feels least awkward.
  • Date fields — usually auto-filled with today’s date. Click to override if you need a different date.
  • Text fields — type whatever the sender is asking for (your title, your company, a reference number, etc.)
  • Checkboxes — for “I agree” or “I acknowledge” style consents.

The Next field → button at the bottom keeps you moving. If you skip a required field, Pacta highlights it in red before letting you submit.

Step 3 — Review and submit

When every required field is filled, the Sign and submit button becomes active. Pacta shows you a final summary panel:

  • Every field you filled in (with your input visible)
  • The full document one more time
  • A legal acknowledgement: by submitting, you’re applying a legally binding signature

Click Sign and submit. Pacta:

  1. Cryptographically applies your signature to the PDF
  2. Adds a timestamp from an independent Time Stamp Authority
  3. Records your IP address and user agent for the audit trail
  4. Releases the next signer’s link (if it’s a sequential workflow)
  5. Sends you a confirmation email

The confirmation email arrives within seconds. It includes a copy of the document as it stands so far — with your signature applied. If you’re not the last signer, more signatures may be added before the final version.

Step 4 — Receiving the final signed copy

Once everyone has signed, Pacta emails the final, fully-signed PDF to every recipient (signers, approvers, CC) and to the sender.

The final PDF contains:

  • The original document with every signature visually placed in the right spot
  • A page footer on every page: “Verified by sign.pacta.ink · Envelope <id> · Signed <timestamp> UTC”
  • A certificate page appended to the end, listing every action: who viewed the document, who signed, exact timestamps, IP addresses, the hash of the document, the TSA token

Save this PDF somewhere safe. The PDF itself is the legal record — you don’t need to log into Pacta to prove anything.

What makes a Pacta signature legally valid

Three things, layered:

  1. Identity — the signing link is uniquely bound to your email. Only the person who received the email can produce a signature on it.
  2. Integrity — once you sign, the PDF is cryptographically sealed (CAdES envelope, PKCS#7). Any change to a single byte invalidates the signature when verified.
  3. Time — an independent Time Stamp Authority (TSA) anchors the signature to a verifiable moment. Long-Term Validation (LTV) ensures the signature stays verifiable for decades, even after issuing certificates expire.

For most jurisdictions (US ESIGN/UETA, EU eIDAS, UK eIDAS, AU/NZ etc.) this combination is a legally binding electronic signature. For specific compliance regimes (CFR21 Part 11, HIPAA), check with the sender or your legal team about whether their Pacta org has those flags enabled.

Verifying a Pacta-signed PDF later

You don’t need Pacta to verify. The signature is embedded in the PDF using open standards. To verify:

  • Adobe Reader opens the PDF and shows a green “Signed and all signatures are valid” banner if untampered
  • Verifying online: drop the PDF into any standards-compliant e-signature verifier (e.g., the EU DSS Demonstration Tool)
  • Programmatically: parse the PDF for the CAdES envelope and verify against the issuing certificate authority

See Audit trails + verification for the detailed walkthrough.

Things you don’t need to worry about

  • Creating a Pacta account. Signers don’t need one. The signing link is enough.
  • Storing your signature. Pacta doesn’t keep a reusable signature image on file (unless you choose to create an account, in which case you can opt into one). Each signing event creates its own signature.
  • Compromising your signature. The cryptographic signing happens server-side after you submit. The visual signature you drew is combined with cryptographic material to form a CAdES envelope that can’t be reused elsewhere.

Common gotchas

  • “This link has expired.” Either the sender set an expiration date and it passed, or the sender cancelled the document. Email them — they may need to resend.
  • “You’re not the right recipient.” The signing link is bound to a specific email. If you got it forwarded from a colleague, ask the sender to add you directly as a recipient instead.
  • “Can’t see the Sign button.” Make sure all required fields are filled in. Required fields show a red dot until completed.

Where to go next

If you’re regularly receiving Pacta documents to sign and want to streamline the experience:

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