How to Preview Documents before Sending and Signing: Zoho Forms & Zoho Writer

Introduction

Efficiency and accuracy are important aspects in the current industry. Zoho Forms together with Zoho Writer have rich functionalities for creating and managing documents. One of the standout features is the ability to preview documents before sending them for signatures, ensuring that all information is accurate and complete.

In this article you will learn how to configure Zoho Forms for data collection, merging with a Zoho Writer template and enabling document preview for both the sender and signer.

Step-by-Step Guide

Create the Zoho Form

Log in to your Zoho Forms account and click on New Form. Select Standard as the Form Type, provide a Form Title, and click on Create.

 

From the Builder tab, go to Basic Fields and insert the following fields:

• Single Line for “Name”, “Company”
• Multi Line for “Address”
• Single Line for “City”, “State”
• Number for “Zip”
• Email for “Email”

 

Now to write Table of Product, Quantity, and Total with variable number of rows go to Advanced Fields and drag a Subform. Subforms are the best way when the number of rows are variable. It’s a paid feature.

To create a table for Product, Quantity, and Total with a variable number of rows, navigate to Advanced Fields and drag a Subform. Note that Subforms are a paid feature.

 

And that’s it. You have successfully created a Zoho Form.

Create the Zoho Writer Template with Signing Fields

Go to your Zoho Writer account, click on Document Templates under Templates, navigate to Public templates, select Business, choose an appropriate template for your document, and click on Use This Template.

 

Modify your template as needed. Click on Fields, then Merge Fields under Dynamic Fields, and click on Import Fields.

 

Select Zoho Forms as the Data Source for Merge Fields. Choose your form and click on Choose.

 

Now, insert the fields from the Fields List into your document.

 

To add signer fields, go to Fields, click on Signer Fields under Dynamic Fields.

 

Click on Signature under Insert Fields. This will be the field the signer will use when signing the document.

 

Under Automate, convert this template into a Merge Template to merge it with the Zoho Forms fields and click on Convert.

 

Now, you have successfully created a Zoho Writer template.

Enable Document Merge and Feature to Review Document before Submission in Zoho Forms

Go back to your Zoho Forms editor and click on the Settings tab.

 

Navigate to Submissions & Storage and click on Review Before Submission. Enable this feature, set the Review Button Label, and click on Save.

 

Go to PDF & Document Merge and click on Document Merge.

 

To configure your document merge, click on Configure, select your document, and click on Use This.

 

Provide a Template Name, configure Send as Attachment settings (Attachment Name, Attachment Type), and click on Create.

 

Optional: If you used multiple signature fields, you can configure them by assigning specific users or roles to sign in each field.

Enable Zoho Sign Integration

In Zoho Writer, go to Automate, and under When to Merge, click on On form submission. Choose Output as Merge & Send for sign collection.

 

Configure the signer’s details, customize the email, and click on Save.

 

In Zoho Forms, go to Settings, Email & Notification, Email, click on Configure to configure the email settings, and click on Done.

 

Test and Publish

Go to your Zoho Writer template, click on Automate, and then click on Run Merge.

 

Fill out the form, click on the Review button to review the form before sending it for signature collection, and then click on Done.

 

After Submission

When someone submits your form, Zoho automatically merges their data into your Zoho Writer template.

If Zoho Sign integration is enabled, the merged document is sent for electronic signatures. The signer will receive two separate emails: one with the original document for signature and another with a preview of the document before signing.

 

Verdict

Zoho Forms and Zoho Writer offer a robust solution for creating, merging, and signing documents with the added advantage of document previewing. This guarantees accuracy while at the same time making sure that nothing is left out thereby increasing the trust of the sender as well as the receiver.

You can make your document flow smooth, minimize mistakes and keep up to par with corporate communication by following this guide.