(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading...PDFs are everywhere, from your computers to cloud locations. You may receive them as attachments in your email, but also as attachments in LinkedIn messages or WhatsApp conversations. And what do they contain? Almost anything, from documents to presentation slides, or even some with video and audio clips!
So, it goes without saying that you may have to create PDFs to share with others, and you may also have to edit some that you receive from others. You may also have to sign some agreements and contracts that show up as PDFs. While there are scores of PDF tools available including the Pro versions of Adobe’s Acrobat, most of us need a simple tool that makes these tasks easy and intuitive.
And that’s exactly what our review is all about—we will explore Smallpdf, a suite of PDF tools that do not even need to be installed on your systems because it’s browser-based. Of course, they do have mobile apps on iOS and Android if you want to make PDF edits on your phone. They also provide apps for Windows and Mac desktops and web extensions for Google Chrome, Google Workspace, and Dropbox. Did we mention that Smallpdf also includes its own cloud-based location?
In this review, we will explore Smallpdf’s repertoire of tools, and specifically look at Smallpdf’s eSign tool.
And yes, we wish to thank Christina Harker of Smallpdf for this review, who answered all our queries patiently. Thank you, Christina. Smallpdf is based out of Switzerland.
Getting Started
Before we get started, let’s explore this small video clip from Smallpdf that provides a brief introduction.
Let us now explore possibilities with Smallpdf using this walkthrough:
- We started by logging into the Smallpdf site. You see a clean, unobtrusive interface as shown in Figure 1, below.
Figure 1: Smallpdf home screen- You’ll find a toolbar on the top that includes four icons and/or links. This toolbar is available all the time, irrespective of the tool you may be using within Smallpdf. The first icon, highlighted in red in Figure 1, above, takes you to the Smallpdf home screen, which is exactly the same screen that you see in Figure 1. The second icon, highlighted in blue shows you the amazing repertoire of Smallpdf’s tools, as shown in Figure 2, below.
Figure 2: Smallpdf Tools- These tools encompass a fantastic range from PDF compression to file conversions, including the conversion of PDFs to PowerPoint, which may interest users of this site. The third icon, highlighted in green in Figure 1 takes you to the Documents screen, as shown in Figure 3, below.
Figure 3: Smallpdf Documents- Do note that the entire area highlighted in red pertains to eSign activities. We explore these options in more detail later in this review.
- The fourth and the last icon highlighted in orange in Figure 1 takes you to the Search area, which finds content stored within your Smallpdf account, based on the keywords you search for.
- Let us now use Smallpdf’s eSign feature to send an agreement to a few recipients, so that they can electronically sign and send the PDF back to us. The best part of this eSign option within Smallpdf is that you can send the agreement to multiple recipients, and they can all sign on the same PDF. All you need is their email addresses. Of course, you also need an agreement that’s saved as a PDF. If your agreement is a Word document, that’s OK too because Smallpdf can convert Word documents to PDFs.
- So, we selected our PDF for the agreement in Smallpdf’s Documents folder, as can be seen highlighted in red within Figure 4, below. We then accessed the Tools button, highlighted in blue to bring up the Tools menu. Finally, in the resultant menu, we selected the eSign PDF option, highlighted in green within Figure 4.
Figure 4: eSign PDF- You will next see the Invite signers panel, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 5, below. There are a few steps within this panel that we will explore.
Figure 5: Invite signers- You can click the options in the Invite signers panel. The topmost option, Your Signature is mandatory while the other options are not compulsory. We clicked the Your Signature option that brings up the window that you see in Figure 6, below.
Figure 6: Type your signature- There are three options to input your signature. The first tab is Draw, that you can see highlighted in red within Figure 6, above. Here, you can draw your signature, which I managed to do fairly well with a mouse, and that’s because Smallpdf has a helpful smoothing option turned on. The other two tabs are Type and Upload, highlighted in blue and green respectively within Figure 6. The Type tab provides you with some cursive styles to type in your name and the Upload tab lets you choose from one of the bitmap formats such as JPG, PNG, or GIF to upload what could possibly be your scanned signature. Once you are done, you click the large Create button. Once your signature has been created, Smallpdf saves the signature so that you can use it again in more documents. I could drag my newly created signature into the PDF easily, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 7, below.
Figure 7: Signature dragged into document- You can similarly sign in your initials with the same three options of drawing, typing, or uploading. You can also add text and date fields, and checkboxes. Next, you can use the Invite Signers option, highlighted in green within Figure 8, below. Doing so will allow you to send this PDF to others so that they can sign. If you are nor ready to invite signers yet, you can click the Finish and Sign button, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 8. Then, you can come back to the signed document later and invite signers whenever you want.
Figure 8: Finish and sign- We did click on the Invite Signers option, which brings up the Add Signer window, shown in Figure 9, below. You can type in multiple names or even import names from a CSV file. When done, click the Continue button.
Figure 9: Add Signer- The right pane will now show the Review & Send button, as shown in Figure 10, below. Click this button.
Figure 10: Review and send- You will finally see the Signers pane, as shown in Figure 11, below. All your recipients are listed here, and you can turn on the Require signing order option, highlighted in red. You can also type in a custom message, as shown in the area highlighted in green within Figure 11 before clicking the Finish & Send button.
Figure 11: Finish and send- At this point in time, you are done. Smallpdf asks you to finally confirm that you want to send the PDF to signers, as shown in Figure 12, below. We clicked the Yes, Send button.
Figure 12: Finish and invite signers
Receiving PDFs to eSign
In the preceding section, we looked at how you can send PDFs to be signed by others. So, what happens at the other end, when recipients receive a request from Smallpdf to sign a document? Let us explore.
- As a recipient, you will find an email from Smallpdf in your inbox that invites you to sign the PDF, as shown in Figure 13, below. Typically, such invites are valid for 2 weeks.
Figure 13: Invitation to sign agreement- As a recipient, you don’t need to have a Smallpdf account. Once you click the Access and Sign button shown in Figure 13, above, you see the PDF on your left, and the signing panel on the right, in almost the same way as you saw in Figure 5 in the preceding section. Similarly, as in the case of the person who sent the invite, recipients must add at least a signature by clicking the Add option, shown highlighted in red within Figure 14, below.
Figure 14: Recipients need to sign- Since most of the other steps are identical, we followed steps 8 and 9 from the preceding section to add a signature and place it in the PDF. Notice that the signature can be seen highlighted in red within Figure 15, below. Also, the Finish & Send button is no longer grayed (compare with Figure 14). You can now click the Finish & Send button.
Figure 15: Sign and send back- You will see the Ready to send dialog box, shown in Figure 16, below. Note that Smallpdf assures you that a copy of the signed PDF will be sent to you by email. Essentially, this means that a copy will be sent after the document is complete. It can only be complete if other signers have finished signing the same document. For now, click the Yes, Send button to proceed.
Figure 16: Ready to send
Pricing and Support
The basic version of Smallpdf with only web access is free and limited to process 2 documents daily. This is a great way to get started and will provide you with the motivation to go to the Pro level, which allows access to advanced features, unlimited document processing, file storage, no advertisements, and full customer support. Access to this level costs up to $12 a month. Other plans called Team and Business are also available.
Support is through a FAQ, and you can also contact support via email.
Conclusion
Smallpdf is an amazing product that encompasses a web-based program, mobile and desktop applications, online file storage and sharing, and an integrated electronic signing solution.
The program as well as apps are snappy and intuitive and promise to be a complete document sharing and storage solution. It provides great bang for the buck, and can soon become an integral part of your workflow.
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