Using Plumsail Document Templates

Automating document workflows is essential for modern businesses aiming to save time, reduce errors, and ensure consistency. Plumsail Documents, when integrated with signNow, empowers you to generate, customize, and deliver template-based documents for electronic signatures — all in a seamless, automated flow. This guide will walk you through how Plumsail Document Templates work with signNow, the benefits of this integration, supported formats, and best practices for setting up robust document automation processes.

How Plumsail Document Templates Work with signNow

Plumsail Documents is a powerful document generation platform that lets you merge data from your apps into customizable templates. With the signNow integration, you can automatically send generated documents for eSignature, eliminating manual steps and accelerating your workflow. The core of Plumsail’s automation is the concept of a "Process" — a workflow that fills out a template with your data and delivers the result to destinations like email, cloud storage, CRMs, or directly to signNow for signing. For example, you can set up a process that takes HR onboarding data, merges it into a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) template, and sends the completed NDA to signNow for the new hire’s signature. This not only streamlines document creation but also ensures every recipient gets a personalized, accurate document ready for eSigning. The above image shows the intuitive interface for creating a new process in Plumsail, where you can name your process and select the template format that best fits your needs.

Key Benefits of Integrating Plumsail Templates and signNow

Combining Plumsail Documents with signNow unlocks a host of advantages for organizations of any size:

• End-to-End Automation: Generate, customize, and send documents for eSignature without manual intervention.
• Consistency and Accuracy: Templates ensure every document follows your brand and legal standards, reducing the risk of errors.
• Time Savings: Automated workflows free your team from repetitive paperwork, letting them focus on higher-value tasks.
• Security and Compliance: Add watermarks, password protection, and restrict document actions to safeguard sensitive information.
• Scalability: Easily handle bulk document generation and signing, whether for HR onboarding, sales contracts, or customer agreements.
• Seamless Integration: Connect with web forms, Zapier, Power Automate, and more to trigger document workflows from your favorite apps.

Supported Document Template Formats

Plumsail Documents supports a wide range of template formats, making it easy to automate virtually any business document. Supported formats include:

• Microsoft Word (DOCX)
• Microsoft Excel (XLSX)
• Microsoft PowerPoint (PPTX)
• Fillable PDF forms
• HTML templates

This flexibility means you can automate everything from contracts and invoices to reports and marketing materials. Each template uses placeholders (tokens) in double curly brackets (e.g., {{EmployeeName}}) that are replaced with your custom data during the generation process.

Creating and Customizing Document Templates

Building a template in Plumsail is straightforward and highly visual. You can start from scratch or upload an existing document, then insert tokens wherever you want dynamic data to appear. The template editor provides live previews, token management, and testing tools to ensure your template works perfectly before deploying it. For example, when preparing an Employee NDA, you can insert tokens for the employee’s name, address, and effective date. The editor interface allows you to test the template with sample data, ensuring all fields populate correctly. Once your template is ready, you can configure output settings such as file name (using tokens for personalization), output format (PDF, DOCX, etc.), locale, and security options like watermarks or password protection.

Setting Up Automated Document Generation Processes

To automate document generation and delivery, Plumsail uses a step-by-step process builder. Here’s how it works:

• Create a new process: Name your process and select the template type.
• Upload or design your template: Use the editor to insert tokens and customize the layout.
• Configure output settings: Set file names, formats, and security features.
• Add delivery destinations: Choose where the generated document should go — email, cloud storage, CRM, or signNow for eSigning.
• Start the process: Trigger the workflow via a web form, Zapier, Power Automate, or API.

This modular approach lets you automate everything from simple document merges to complex, multi-step workflows involving multiple systems.

Configuring signNow Delivery for eSigning

One of the most powerful features of Plumsail Documents is its ability to send generated documents directly to signNow for electronic signature. Setting up signNow delivery is simple:

• Connect your signNow account within Plumsail Documents.
• Specify the email subject, message, and recipients for the signing request.
• Assign signing roles and set the signing order if needed.
• Save your configuration and proceed to launch the workflow.

This integration ensures that every generated document is delivered to the right people for signature, with full control over messaging and recipient roles. You can even add multiple recipients, customize their signing roles, and personalize the signing experience.

Launching and Managing Document Workflows (Web Forms, Zapier, Power Automate)

Plumsail Documents offers several ways to trigger document generation and signing workflows:

• Web Forms: Every process can generate a web form for data collection. Users fill out the form, and the data is merged into your template to create a personalized document. You can share the form link or embed it on your website.
• Zapier: Connect Plumsail with thousands of apps to automate document generation based on triggers like new CRM entries, database updates, or form submissions.
• Power Automate: Build advanced workflows that integrate Plumsail with Microsoft 365, SharePoint, and other business tools.

For example, you can set up a workflow where a new row in your database automatically generates a contract, sends it to signNow for signature, and stores the signed copy in your cloud storage — all without manual intervention.

Best Practices for Template-Based Document Automation

To maximize the value of Plumsail and signNow integration, consider these best practices:

• Design templates with clarity: Use clear labels for tokens and ensure your templates are easy to read and fill out.
• Test thoroughly: Use the template editor’s testing tools to preview documents with sample data before deploying workflows.
• Secure sensitive documents: Apply watermarks, password protection, and restrict actions on PDFs to protect confidential information.
• Automate triggers: Leverage web forms, Zapier, or Power Automate to launch workflows based on real business events.
• Monitor and optimize: Regularly review workflow performance and signed document reports to identify bottlenecks and improve efficiency.

By following these tips, you’ll ensure your document automation is robust, secure, and scalable as your business grows.

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