# Signature Fields

> Turn signature fields into signature and initials boxes in the Document Viewer, activate the fields of each signer and check field names with ServerTextControl.

- **Product:** TX Text Control .NET Server
- **Section:** Documentation
- **Kind:** Topic
- **Path:** TX Text Control .NET Server > Document Viewer > Signature Fields
- **1622 words**
- **Web URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/document-viewer/signature-fields/
- **LLMs URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/document-viewer/signature-fields/llms.txt
- **LLMs-Full URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/document-viewer/signature-fields/llms-full.txt

---

Documents prepared for signing contain signature fields, and the Document Viewer turns them into signature boxes. With signature and initials boxes, required boxes and documents for several signers, you prepare documents and route them to one or more signers.

The signing process itself, with its settings and the endpoint that receives the signed document, is described in [Digital Signatures](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/document-viewer/digital-signatures/llms-full.txt). This page uses the same application.

### From Signature Fields to Signature Boxes

A signature field is a frame in the document that holds the image of a signature, and it has a name. Documents get signature fields in three ways:

- Users or your code insert them in the Document Editor; see [Signature Fields](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/document-editor/signature-fields/llms-full.txt) in Document Editor.
- `ServerTextControl` adds them on the server, as shown in [Digitally Sign a PDF](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/getting-started/pdf/sign/#sign-signature-fields).
- Signature lines of MS Word documents are imported as signature fields.

[What a Signature Field Holds](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/digital-signatures/signature-fields/#what-a-signature-field-holds) lists the formats that keep signature fields.

When the viewer loads a document with signature settings, it turns the signature fields whose names are listed in the signature boxes of the settings into signature boxes that users sign. Other signature fields of the document are shown, but they can't be signed in this session. This lets you send one document with several fields to several parties and activate only the fields of the current signer.

Each entry of [signatureBoxes](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/javascript-document-viewer/signaturesettings/signatureboxes-property/llms-full.txt) is a [SignatureBox](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/javascript-document-viewer/signaturebox/llms-full.txt) with these properties:

| Property | Sets |
|---|---|
| [name](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/javascript-document-viewer/signaturebox/name-property/llms-full.txt) | The name of the signature fields that become signature boxes |
| [style](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/javascript-document-viewer/signaturebox/style-property/llms-full.txt) | What the box shows, a value of [SignatureBoxStyle](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/javascript-document-viewer/signaturebox-signatureboxstyle/llms-full.txt): `0` for the signature, `1` for the initials |
| [signingRequired](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/javascript-document-viewer/signaturebox/signingrequired-property/llms-full.txt) | Whether the box must be signed before the document can be submitted |
| [signed](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/javascript-document-viewer/signaturebox/signed-property/llms-full.txt) | Whether the box is signed |

Signature boxes confirm the complete document. Initials boxes are used to agree to specific parts, confirming that the signer has read them; they show the initials that users enter in the signature dialog.

### Documents With Several Signers

In a document for several signers, give each signature field a name that identifies its signer. For example, a nondisclosure agreement has three fields:

| Field name | Signed by |
|---|---|
| `sign_discloser` | The discloser, with a signature |
| `sign_vendor` | The vendor, with a signature |
| `init_vendor` | The vendor, with initials |

The document is sent to each signer with signature settings that activate only that signer's fields. The following settings are those of the vendor, with a signature box and an initials box. They replace the settings of the `loadDocument` call in the view of [Digital Signatures](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/document-viewer/digital-signatures/#start-the-signing-process), which loads *nda.docx* instead of *contract.docx*:

```javascript
await TXDocumentViewer.loadDocument(stored.data, stored.name, {
    showSignatureBar: true,
    ownerName: "Paul Paulsen",
    signerName: "Tim Typer",
    signerInitials: "TT",
    uniqueId: "NDA-2026-001",
    redirectUrlAfterSignature: window.location.origin + "/Signature/SignDocument?signer=vendor",
    signatureBoxes: [
        { name: "sign_vendor", signingRequired: true, style: 0 },
        { name: "init_vendor", signingRequired: true, style: 1 }
    ]
});
```

- Only `sign_vendor` and `init_vendor` become signature boxes; `sign_discloser` stays inactive in this session.
- `style: 1` makes `init_vendor` an initials box.
- The query string of `redirectUrlAfterSignature` tells the endpoint which signer submitted the document.

With these settings, the vendor sees two boxes to sign, the small initials box in the text and the signature box, each with a **SIGN HERE** marker. The discloser's field is shown as an empty signature line without a marker:

![A nondisclosure agreement in the Document Viewer with the signature bar, a small initials box after "Initials of the Vendor", the inactive gray signature line of the discloser and the yellow signature box of the vendor, both boxes marked SIGN HERE](https://docs.textcontrol.com/assets/img/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/viewer-signer-boxes.b30bbb9d.webp)

The endpoint receives the signer as a parameter of its action, and [SignatureData.SignatureBoxes](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/txtextcontrol-web-mvc-documentviewer-models/signaturedata/signatureboxes-property/llms-full.txt) contains the boxes the signer submitted as .NET [SignatureBox](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/txtextcontrol-web-mvc-documentviewer/signaturebox/llms-full.txt) objects with `Name`, `Style` and `SigningRequired`. [Collect Signatures From Several People](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/digital-signatures/multiple/#collect-signatures-from-several-people) in Multiple Signatures shows the action that keeps the document between the signers and certifies it after the last one. A signature field keeps its own certificate and validation status, which makes signature fields suitable for several signers.

### Check the Signature Fields of a Document

Before a document is sent to signers, check on the server that it contains the signature fields your process expects: [ServerTextControl.SignatureFields](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/txtextcontrol/servertextcontrol/signaturefields-property/llms-full.txt) lists the fields of the main text, and [SignatureFieldCollection.GetItem](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/txtextcontrol/signaturefieldcollection/getitem-method/llms-full.txt) returns `null` for a name the document doesn't contain. [Signature Fields](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/digital-signatures/signature-fields/llms-full.txt) in Digital Signatures describes both.

### Next Steps

- [Digital Signatures](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/document-viewer/digital-signatures/llms-full.txt): the signing process and the endpoint.
- [Signature Fields](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/document-editor/signature-fields/llms-full.txt) in Document Editor: insert and name signature fields.
- [Multiple Signatures](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/digital-signatures/multiple/llms-full.txt): sign PDF documents with several certificates.

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## Nearby

- **Previous:** [Digital Signatures](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/document-viewer/digital-signatures/llms-full.txt)
- **Next:** [JavaScript API](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/document-viewer/javascript-api/llms-full.txt)