Signing files electronically

Using the API, you can sign two types of files:

  • An individual file. The file cannot be larger than 1 GiB and your account must have sufficient Notary storage and eSignatures quotas.

    The notary service uploads and stores this file in the notary storage. The file can be easily accessed on the Signed files tab of the notary console.

  • A file stored in a file-sharing resource and available by a permanent link. The file can be of any size and your account must have a sufficient eSignatures quota.

    The notary service does not try to download the file and upload it to the notary storage, but you should provide the information about the file and its owner (the signing initiator) as a valid JSON object to the service.

After uploading the file or receiving the information about it, you should provide the list of signees to the notary service. Then, the service will initiate the signing:

  • Each signee receives an email message with the signature request.

  • The service creates an e-sign document for the file. This e-sign document contains the information about the signing status.

  • The service generates a direct link to the e-sign document web page.

It is not possible to cancel the signing of a file stored in a file-sharing resource. You may only cancel the signing of a file uploaded to the notary storage, by deleting this file from the storage.

When a signee signs the file, the service sends an email notification about this action to the signing initiator and signees.

When all the signees sign the file, the service does the following:

  • Sends an email notification about the completed signing to the signing initiator and signees.

  • Creates a PDF file of the signature certificate (the certificate file), uploads it to the notary storage (the Notary storage quota is not used), and attaches the file link to the e-sign document web page.

    If you are signing an individual file, you may also access its certificate file via the notary console.

  • Notarizes the certificate file (the Notarizations quota is not used).

    The service calculates the SHA-256 hash value of the file contents, creates the file’s notarization certificate that contains the information about the notarization status, and then queues the hash value for writing it to the Ethereum blockchain. The writing of queued hash values is triggered every hour and the time when the writing is completed depends on the Ethereum network status.