Signature Question

Suite
Customer Experience Strategy & Research
Product
Qualtrics
What's on this page

About Signature Questions

Signature questions let survey respondents draw their signature in a text box. On a desktop, respondents can use their mouse, and on a mobile device or other touch screens, respondents can use their finger.

A question in a survey where respondents can provide a signature
A question in a survey where respondents can provide a signature
Qtip: When used with the New Survey Taking Experience, the signature question lets you switch between Type and Sign versions. Clicking Type allows respondents to type their full name, which then generates a signature for them.
the respondent has typed out Barnaby Smith, which has then generated a cursive, digital signature
the respondent has typed out Barnaby Smith, which has then generated a cursive, digital signature

Setting Up a Signature Question

Click Add new question.
Choose Signature.
Adding a signature question to the survey
Adding a signature question to the survey
Enter your question text.
Ability to sign here in the box provided
Ability to sign here in the box provided
Qtip: We recommend adding your own legal text to let respondents know this is a representation of their legal signature.

Signature Question Options

The signature question has limited customization options. These options are found in the question editing pane on the left of a selected signature question.

Signature question options in the left editing pane
Signature question options in the left editing pane
  • Box size: Increase or decrease the size of the signature box.
  • Show “sign here”: You can toggle the “sign here” text on or off.
  • Force response: Use this setting to force respondents to answer the question in order to view the rest of the survey.

Data Analysis

Once your responses have been collected, Qualtrics offers various methods to create reports and analyze your data.

Attention: Image files of signatures are included as part of your data. The Uploaded files access in your survey options can affect who can see these images and download them. If you cannot access the image URL from your data export, it is because you are not the survey owner and the survey owner has restricted access. See Uploaded files access for more information and steps for owners to give other users access.

CSV and TSV Dataset

When you export the dataset to a spreadsheet format like CSV or TSV, a few columns are included for signature data: the Id, Name, Size, and Type of file.

This exported spreadsheet does not contain links to signature files; instead, download the zip described in the next section.

csv of signature data
csv of signature data

ZIP Download

You can download a ZIP file with all the signatures your respondents provided. When exporting your responses, just choose the User Submitted Files format.

Qtip: Depending on the number of files that have been uploaded, this ZIP file may be quite large, and could take a while to download.

Data & Analysis, Data Tab

When you display the Id column and click a specific ID, you’ll download the individual signature. Keep in mind this only works if you have permission to access the file.

Reporting on signature questions

A lot of the reporting available to signature questions is similar to what’s available for file upload questions. See File Upload Data Analysis for more details on how to use signatures in reports.

FAQs

What kind of project can I use this type of question in?

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