DigiSigner Uses JPedal to Display Contracts Accurately in the Browser

DigiSigner runs a web-based e-signature platform. Its customers upload contracts to send them out for signature and get them back signed, all without printing anything or arranging a meeting, and they do this from countries all over the world. Because signers review every contract on DigiSigner’s platform before they commit to it, the accuracy of that on-screen document is a core part of what the company sells.

What DigiSigner Needed

DigiSigner’s goal was to make its service simple to use for as many people as possible, which put two constraints on how it displayed contracts. Pages in the browser needed to be indistinguishable from the same file in Adobe Acrobat. And because DigiSigner has no say over what software its customers use to produce their contracts, the display had to cope with everything from cleanly generated PDFs to badly built ones.

In practice, that means handwritten annotations, text added afterwards in free online editors, JPEG2000 images and XFA forms, sometimes all in the same week. Fonts cause the most trouble. A contract might reference a font it doesn’t embed, or embed one in a way that only some PDF readers handle correctly.

Where JPedal Fits

DigiSigner has used JPedal, the pure Java PDF library from IDRsolutions, for over a decade to present contracts in the browser for viewing and signing. JPedal renders each page to an image on DigiSigner’s servers, matching the original. Since rendering happens on the server, signers don’t need a PDF reader or a particular device to see the contract exactly as it was written.

When a customer uploads a file that doesn’t display correctly, DigiSigner sends it to the JPedal support team, where fixes usually arrive in the next daily build. DigiSigner has been using JPedal for displaying contracts for more than a decade!

DigiSigner also uses JPedal to detect when a page has been rendered with a substitute font from the server instead of one embedded in the PDF, which helps it keep track of font licensing across documents it doesn’t control.

That means DigiSigner can offer a consistent experience for its users on any modern browser.

“JPedal allows us to offer our product to people using all kinds of devices everywhere in the world. With your software, we can be technologically agnostic and offer consistent high-quality experience on all types of modern platforms.”