Dropbox is launching a native method for its users to electronically sign and secure signatures from others on its web client using HelloSign, a startup it acquired last year for $230 million. The integration is the latest in a series of a monetized additions to its core cloud storage business this year.

HelloSign eSignatures is only available on the web right now with no sign of a mobile release — in the Android and iOS apps, users are guided to use Adobe Acrobat for signing.

Android Police was provided access to a test account to demonstrate the feature and it looks pretty straightforward.

Any drafter handling a PDF can select the new "Send for Signature" button which will take them into the new eSign workflow. They'll then need to identify the other parties to the document by name and email or declare that they are the sole signee.

From there, the user can select any of the five fields — signature, initials, date signed, textbox, and checkbox — from the left-side toolbar and double-click on the document to drop them in that location. All assets can be resized and can be assigned to different signees for them to fill or check as needed. Text boxes can be adjusted for typeface and point size. It's not a full-on PDF editor, though, so don't go expecting things like drawing solid whiteout boxes or changing existing text.

For signatures and initials, drafters have a choice of drawing in the characters, typing them in and select a handwriting-esque font, uploadng a photo of up to 40MB, or sending a photo from their smartphone to a HelloSign email address with a coded subject line.

After saving the document, the drafter can customize a message and add in CC addresses before sending the fill requests out to their intended destinations. Signees can click on the link in the request email, check that the document is correct, and then get guided through each field to fill.

That privilege of having respondents sign documents with ease comes at a cost if it's heavily used. Dropbox is integrating HelloSign's sales model into eSignatures: free-tier users able to send three requests per month while Pro subscribers pay $15 a month or $156 annually for unlimited signatures and the ability to save up to five field templates. There are also business and enterprise levels.

Dropbox is rolling out the HelloSign integration today and will do the same with its Passwords and Vault SaaS later this month. All of them aim to expand the umbrella brand as a hub for productivity tools for business and continue the revenue momentum from its first profitable quarter in company history earlier this year.

Source: Dropbox