---
title: "The Signing Designer"
space: "Frappe Sign Documentation"
url: "https://eben.isambane.co.za/frappe-sign-docs/the-signing-designer"
updated: "2026-08-06"
---


# The Signing Designer

The Designer is where you place fields onto the source PDF - open it from a request via **Frappe Sign -> Open Designer**.

![The Designer: field palette (Signature, Initials, Name, Email, Date, Text, Checkbox), the rendered PDF, and the signer selector](/files/fsign-designer-loaded.png)

## Placing a field

1. Pick a signer from the **Signer** panel (for requests with more than one signer, whichever signer is selected is who a newly-placed field gets assigned to).
2. Click a field type in the **Fields** list, then click on the PDF where it should go - or drag it directly onto the page.
3. Repeat for every field you need.

Supported field types: **Signature**, **Initials**, **Name**, **Email**, **Date**, **Text**, **Checkbox**.

Placed fields show up in the **Placed Fields** panel with their page and position, and can be removed from there too. Click **Save Fields** when you're done:

![Two fields placed and saved: a Signature field and a Date field, each tagged with the assigned signer](/files/fsign-designer-fields-saved.png)

## Request mode vs. Template mode

- Opened from a **Frappe Sign Request**, the Designer works against that request's real signer rows and saves straight to `Frappe Sign Request.fields`. The **Send Request** button lives right in the Designer toolbar here.
- Opened from a **Frappe Sign Template**, it works against the template's placeholder signer *labels* instead of real signers, and saves to `Frappe Sign Template.fields`. You'll be asked for a sample source document just so the PDF can be rendered for placement - that sample is never stored on the template itself. There's no Send button in template mode, since a template isn't a request. See **Templates**.

Next: send the request - see **Sending a Request & the Signing Portal**.