Signature cycles - Classic interface

Signers receive and sign the document in the order that their e-mail addresses were entered into the To: field. Once the last signer completes the signing process, then all parties receive a Signed & Filed e-mail with the signed PDFs attached.

Parallel signing workflow

Click Complete in Any Order to start a parallel workflow.

All the recipients receive the document at the same time and can sign in any order. Once the last signer has completed the signing process, then all parties receive a Signed & Filed e-mail with the signed PDFs attached.

Hybrid workflow

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A “Hybrid” workflow is an instance of the sequential participation order where one or more of the steps includes two or more recipients gaining access to the document at the same time. All of the signers/approvers of the “parallel” step will need to complete their part before the sequential process moves to the next step.

For example, in the above image, we have a three-step signature cycle:

• Step 1 is Poh@jupiter.dom. When the agreement is sent out for signature, only fclarke will be notified. Once fclarke signs the document, we proceed to the next step.
• Step 2 is the hybrid step. You can see that all three recipients are given the same number (2), and this means that Adobe Acrobat Sign will notify all of these recipients at the same time.  They can apply their signatures in any order, but all of them must complete their part before the signature cycle moves to the next step.
• Step 3 is another individual recipient. Once the “Step 3” recipient applies their approval, the agreement is completed, it is fully executed, and all parties will be notified with a copy of the agreement as a PDF file.

To create a hybrid group, enter the email addresses of each party as if they were individual recipients, and then click and drag the recipient field over another one in the hybrid group. You will see on screen the message that you are creating a parallel group. Manually changing the index numbers to the same value will also create the hybrid group.

Recipient Groups

Recipient Groups are useful when you need sign-off from a team or an organization, but not from a specific individual in that group. Any member in the group is authorized to sign or approve on behalf of the entire group. 

For example, in the above image, you can view a three-step signature cycle:

• Step 1 (dave@nope.dom) is a signer and will be notified that their signature is required as soon as the agreement is sent. Once Dave applies their signature, the agreement moves on to step 2.
• Step 2 is an approver Recipient Group named "Legal countersigners." Four individuals have been entered into the group. Once any of the identified recipients apply their approval, the agreement will progress to the third step.
• Step 3 is an individual signer. Once this final signature is completed, the agreement is fully executed, and all parties will be notified and receive a copy of the agreement as a PDF file.

To create a Recipient Group, select the Add Recipient Group link at the top-right of the recipient field. This makes the container where you'll be asked to enter the group name and the potential recipients. Two types of recipient groups can be used:

• Ad hoc recipient groups are manually entered by the sender and are only used for the agreement in which they are defined. Ad hoc recipient groups:
  • Must be enabled by an administrator before they are available to the user.
  • Allow the sender to define as many recipients in the group as needed
  • Allow the sender to name the group.
  • It cannot be saved for reuse.
• Reusable recipient groups can be created by users and saved as personal groups or shared with their group or account. Reusable recipient groups:
  • Are enabled for all users under their Address book in the user profile.
  • Must be defined before they can be used.
  • Must have an appropriate scope for the user to access them.
  • It cannot be edited in terms of name or email values.

All members of the Recipient Group will receive the final PDF copy of the signed agreement even if they did not specifically participate.