Ink Signatures

Ink Signatures enable you to capture the hand written signatures of your web form users and to save these with their form submissions.

What Do Ink Signatures Look Like?

Picture of part of a sample web form that includes an Ink Signature.

Why use Ink Signatures?

Easier than Digital Signatures!

Ink Signatures differ from "Digital Signatures" where something is cryptographically signed by the end user. Use of digital signatures requires special software and requires that the end user have this software and the capability to encrypt content. There is a significant technical and conceptual barrier to the use of digital signatures with web site forms.

Better than a Checkbox!

Many web sites (including LuxSci.com) use a check box to signify agreement. This is technically a legally binding action. However, use of a checkbox is "weak", because:

• It is hard or impossible to prove exactly who checked the box
• The checking of a box can technically be forged

For these and other reasons, using a checkbox as a "digital signature", while simple, is not recommended in places where you need stronger proof of identity!

Case In Point: If someone buys something from you, paying with a credit card, and you do not have a written signature from them authorizing this, then you have no defense if they "charge back" the money. With their written signature, you can prove who ordered it and stop the "charge back".

User Friendly and Familiar!

An Ink Signature is a box you can put in your web form where your user can sign his/her name by:

• Drawing it with a mouse
• Drawing it with a stylus and a drawing pad
• Drawing it with a finger or stylus on an iPad, iPhone, or Android-based device.

When the form is submitted, you get this signature as a digital image.

Compatability

Browser/Device
Internet Explorer v9+
Internet Explorer v6-v8 (requires a 3rd-party JavaScript library)
These old versions of Internet Explorer do not support the HTML5 "canvas" object needed for this feature. However, there is a work-around. Using a third-party library called ExplorerCanvas, canvas support is available in Internet Explorer 6 and up. All that's required is to include a single JavaScript file on any page that uses the canvas element. Experience in running example pages included with the ExploreCanvas library show that IE's rendering of canvas elements is very slow and resource-heavy, so the experience is not ideal for those using old versions of Internet Explorer — but at least it works.
Firefox v3+
Safari v3+
Chrome v3+
Opera v10+
iPad (all)
iPhone (all)
iPod Touch (all)
Android-based touch screen device (all)

Mobile Devices: Users sign by drawing their signature using a stylus or their finger.

Desktop/Laptop Devices: Users sign by drawing with the mouse (click and drag to draw) or by using a stylus and drawing pad.

Features

Feature
Compatible with web site forms
Multiple signatures per form
API: robust JavaScript API for interacting with the signature objects
API includes: Support for dynamic Signature Object creation Reset/Clear the signature area Lock/Unlock the signature area Check if the user has signed anything yet (i.e. for validation) Dynamically change the signature image file name and included caption text
Look: Control the look and feel of the signature area
Image Format: Produce a gif, jpg, or png image of the signature
Dynamic File Names: The signature image files can have a custom/dynamic file names
Dynamic Caption Text: The signature images can include optional dynamic caption text
Added to PDF Templates: The signature images can be appended to re-filled PDF templates
Inline in HTML Templates: The signature images can be inserted into re-filled HTML templates in form data email messages
Storable: The signature image files can be saved in WebAides, uploaded to FTP/SFTP sites, and/or emailed.

* Ink Signatures Require JavaScript and HTML5 support in user's web browser/device and do not work in PDF-forms.