Wet Signature

Type of Signatures

Type of Signatures

It’s no secret that professionals all over the world sign various documents daily. Whether it’s a notice board in your school or a file in your office, signatures are quite ubiquitous. There was a time when signatures meant doing signatures using pen and paper. If you’re wondering what the different types of signatures for your name are, you’d be surprised to know that there are plenty of ways to sign a document.

In this article, we aim to discuss every popular type of signature. Apart from that, we’d also guide you on which signature you should use and why. Let’s delve further!

Wet Signature

Wet signature is the traditional type of signature. When you use a pen to manually sign a paper or document, it is called a wet signature. Like other kinds of signatures, the main purpose of wet signatures is to indicate that the signatory has read, understood, and agreed to the contents of that document.

It’s said that wet signatures were first practised in 1677 when a law was passed in the UK, which states that every contract should be written and signed in order to have legal standing.

Since then, every contract was signed manually until the invention of electronic signatures.

Considering the fact that a wet signature could be forged, it’s a good rule of thumb to do a wet signature in the presence of at least two or three people that you trust. A wet signature could be your nickname, real name (first or second name), your company’s name, or even a symbol or mark.

Electronic Signature

An electronic signature, also known as e-signature, is another widely used type of signature. It has gained so much popularity lately and organizations across the globe have switched to it. It’s an online version of your wet signatures. In other words, it’s an illustration of your wet signatures in digital form. A scanned picture of a signatory’s wet signatures or a bio-metric signing on signing hardware are a few electronic signatures examples.

As technology grows, signing documents has become more convenient. Gone are the days when you had to spend a great deal of your time signing the documents manually. The most obvious benefit of electronic signatures is that they save your time and money. The thing with the wet signature is that you have to buy pen and ink week in, week out, or you’d be caught short. Thankfully, that’s not the case with electronic signatures.

In the light of the differences described by the EIDAS regulations (Electronic Identification, Authentication, and Trust Services regulations) in 2016, let’s discuss the types of electronic signatures briefly:

  1. Simple Electronic Signature: In simple electronic signatures, you don’t have to go through any hassle of verifying your identity. Predictably then, they are not as secure as the other types of electronic signatures. You can go for these signatures, but it’s recommended not to trust them in case of sensitive documents as they are more vulnerable to fraudulent activities.
  2. Advanced Electronic Signature: Next, we have the advanced electronic signature. In this type, you have to provide some verification of your identity. Generally, the signatory is verified by certificates, which are often delivered via a delivery service. They are safer than simple electronic signatures, as they require verification.

Digital Signature

A digital signature, also known as the qualified electronic signature, is the most secure type of electronic signatures. They take the verification a step further to comply with the eIDAS regulations. All the details about the signatory are saved in these signatures. If you want your signing process to be the safest, then you can’t go wrong with the digital signatures, plain and simple!

Our Verdict

There are times when wet signatures or electronic signatures are the only options. But if the choice is yours, we recommend using electronic signatures.

If you own a company and rely on wet signatures only, you are very likely to lag behind, as signing documents manually consumes a lot of time. Switching to electronic signatures will save time for you that you can invest in doing something productive. And yes, unlike wet signatures, electronic signatures can hardly be forged. This is why most organizations have replaced wet signatures with electronic signatures already.

Formats

Talking about e signature format, electronic signatures nowadays are compatible with pretty much every file format. Although PDF is the most widely used one, you can sign documents of other formats as well. The same goes for the digital signature formats. You can also save your wet signatures in PDF format. Many software such as Adobe Acrobat, Autograph signature app, are available that allow you to save your wet signatures.

Lunarpen- A Name of Trust

There are dozens of websites and software that offer electronic signatures, none better than the Lunarpen. It’s a company that offers the safest and seamless signing experience. Individuals and companies all over the world use Lunarpen to sign documents every day - and for good reasons. This entire procedure is quite meticulous for users’ convenience. A major part of the reason why it has won the trust of professionals is that it’s safe and easy. The signing process requires the signatory to confirm his identity via a private code.

The collected signatures at Lunarpen are in compliance with all the regulations.

From One-drive to Dropbox, you can connect your account to many applications. Apart from that, it comes with a highly advanced feature that helps you track the document and see the progress. Sign up now for a free account on Lunarpen and take your signing up a notch.

Final Thoughts

Wet signatures and electronic signatures are the two main types of signatures. While the wet signature is the traditional type of signature, an electronic signature is its digital form.

Organizations can save a great deal of their time by switching to electronic signatures.

Lunarpen is a well-known company that offers electronic signatures. Tons of innovative features at Lunarpen make the signing process an absolute breeze.

Posted by Lunar Pen in eSignaure Law, 0 comments
Wet Signature vs Electronic Signature

Wet Signature vs Electronic Signature

Signatures hold paramount importance for any legal document or file. Any legal document or file is meaningless without a signature. From a press release to your kid’s result card, signatures could be found everywhere.

Everything has moved digital in this internet-driven era, and the same is the case with signatures. Now long gone are the days when you required ink, pen, and paper to sign a document. But which kind of signature should you prefer? Today, this will be the premise of our discussion. We’d also try to debunk the myths surrounding electronic signatures, once and for all. Keep reading till the end to know more about wet signature vs electronic signature.

So, what is a wet signature? A wet signature, also known as a traditional signature, refers to the signatures that you place on the paper to indicate that you have read and agreed to the content written in the document or a file. In order to do wet signatures, you’d have to sign manually on paper using a pen or any other machine. It’s usually done in the presence of one or two trustworthy persons. Moreover, a signature is also used to identify the signer as everyone has his unique signature. It could be a person’s name (first or full name), a brand name, nickname, or any symbol or mark.

Prior to the invention of electronic signatures, wet signatures were the only way to sign a document.

The roots of wet signatures go as far back as 1677. A law was passed in the UK back then, which holds that for a contract to hold any legal standing, it must be written and signed. Experts suggest that this was when the signatures were given any legal importance. In the light of this law, it was made compulsory for all companies or individuals to sign the contracts and other documentation.

Wet Signatures in PDF Form

It’s no secret that PDFs are the most widely used kind of online documents. Now, you might be wondering if you can save your signatures in pdf format. Well, you’d be glad to know that there are dozens of applications available that enable you to save your wet signature on pdf. Among all those software, we recommend using Adobe Acrobat. All you need to do is just open this software and click on “Add Signature.” The coolest thing about this software is that you get three options to choose from, i.e., draw, type, and image. This will make signing contracts far more convenient for you.

Sending a Wet Signature?

Now that we have discussed how to save wet signatures on PDF, let’s discuss how to send a wet signature. Well, there are many ways when it comes to sending a wet signature. It all comes down to your personal preferences. Mail is the traditional way which has been used for years. It’s more widely used than other mediums as it’s considered safer and faster. Apart from Mail, you can go for scanned signatures as well. If that’s your preference, you can consider using Approve me. Both ways are equally effective and convenient.

Electronically Generated Original Signatures

Amid COVID 19, many countries around the globe, including the USA, have made it mandatory to provide an electronically reproduced original signature. This simply means that the signature must be handwritten on a scanned document, or an image should be provided at least.

Digital vs Electronic Signature

These two terms are confusing for a lot of users and have been used interchangeably at times.

However, you’d be surprised to know that these are actually two different kinds of signatures.

Electronic signature refers to the signatures to signify your consent on an electronic document or contract. A digital signature, on the other hand, is a form of electronic signatures, which encrypts the data

Final Verdict

There’s a lot to debate when it comes to discussing wet-signature vs electronic signature. Both forms have their legal standing, but the elephant in the room is that wet signatures could be forged, and they consume more time and effort as well.

If your organization spends too much time on getting contacts signed, then you should find yourself considering electronic signatures.

All the reasons why you should switch to electronic signatures would make a long and detailed list.

For starters, they save your time and money that you could spend on something productive. Organizations that solely depend on wet signatures often lag behind. As a cherry on the cake, they are cost-effective as well. You no longer need to shell out your money to buy a pen and paper every now and then. So, it’s safe to say that the digital signature is the winner in the digital signature vs handwritten signature comparison.

Is Lunarpen Considered a Wet Signature?

Lunarpen is a company that allows you to sign any document anytime, from anywhere. It offers tons of groundbreaking features to ensure the fastest and safest signing experience for thousands of professionals all over the world. Since it asks the user to confirm his identity via a private code, you can rest assured knowing that it’s safe. The collected signatures comply with all the norms.

Furthermore, sending a document to several parties is just a click away. And yes, did we mention that you can also track your document and see the progress easily. Seriously, electronic signing cannot get any easier than this. What’s even better? You can connect your Lunarpen account to other applications, such as OneDrive, Dropbox, and many others. Signup for a free account now to seamlessly sign your documents online.

Final Thoughts

Electronic signatures have secured so much popularity over the past few years, and for good reasons. They hit the nail on the head as they are more convenient, safe, time-saving, and cheap. To electronically sign your documents online, professionals use Lunarpen. Signup for a free account now and save a great deal of your time and money.

Posted by Lunar Pen in eSignaure Law, 0 comments