What Is an Electronic Signature?

The short definition

An electronic signature (or "e-signature") is any electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with a record, used by a person with the intent to sign it. In practice, that covers a typed name at the bottom of an email, a drawn signature on a touchscreen, a checkbox saying "I agree," or an image of your handwritten signature dropped into a PDF.

How it's different from a "digital signature"

The two terms are often used interchangeably, but they're not the same thing. An electronic signature describes intent — the fact that someone signed something electronically. A digital signature is a specific cryptographic technique (using public-key infrastructure) that can be used to implement an electronic signature with strong tamper-evidence and identity verification built in. Every digital signature is a kind of electronic signature; not every electronic signature uses digital-signature technology.

How electronic signatures are typically created

• Drawing a signature by hand using a mouse, trackpad, or touchscreen.
• Typing your name and rendering it in a signature-style font.
• Uploading a scanned or photographed image of your handwritten signature.
• Clicking to accept, common in software terms-of-service and click-wrap agreements.

SignScribe supports the first three methods — draw, type, or upload — all processed locally in your browser.

Are they legally valid?

In most countries, yes, for the vast majority of everyday documents. See our full breakdown in are electronic signatures legal? for the specific laws involved and the narrow categories of documents that still require a wet-ink or notarized signature.