Patent ID: 8166393

Claim:
A method to sign an electronic document, the method comprising: at the time of electronically signing an electronic document, receiving a first input selecting an existing electronic signature appearance, where the electronic signature appearance comprises a visual manifestation of a signature on the electronic document and includes at least one of graphical or textual elements; providing a preview of the electronic signature appearance in a bounding region, where the bounding region is a region on the electronic document where the electronic signature appearance will appear; receiving a second input editing the selected electronic signature appearance while previewing the selected electronic signature appearance and before electronically signing the electronic document and providing a preview of the edited electronic signature appearance in the bounding region; and receiving a third input signing the electronic document with an electronic signature, the edited electronic signature appearance being included in the electronic document signed with the electronic signature, where the electronic signature comprises code derived from the signed electronic document and a private key.