How to Combine eSignature Envelope Templates

There is a good chance you are already using Docusign eSignature Envelope Templates to streamline the creation and sending of envelopes. If so, have you ever wished you could streamline the sending process by sending two envelope templates at once? 

Well, actually you can! Combining templates is a useful action when you want to send all documents tied to those templates to all roles/recipients for those templates at one time. This process has several benefits:

• It allows you to save on the number of envelopes needed to send the envelope templates separately 
• It provides additional use case coverage across many parts of your organization
• It streamlines the signing process for your recipients

Example Use Case

Let’s say you work for a credit union and have created two templates - a Change of Address template and a Residential loan application template.

Sometimes you send them together and other times you send them separately. To send together, you can combine the templates to streamline the process.

How to Combine Your Envelope Templates: 

To ensure that the recipients merge properly when combining, identify any duplicate recipients. When using multiple templates, Docusign assumes that different role names or different routing orders mean different signers. The roles will not be merged if the role names or the routing orders are different.

Before combining:

• Review any placeholder role names to ensure that the Roles and Delivery Methods are consistent across templates
• Review any Routing Orders to ensure that they are consistent across recipients  (i.e. If Template A has 3 recipients and Template B has 2, ensure the routing order on Template B is 1 and 3 to leave a placeholder spot for Template A’s additional recipient when combined.) 
• Leave any named recipients as needed but ensure that the routing orders remain consistent across templates
• Review any authentication methods. If the authentication for a single role differs across templates, Docusign will attempt to merge the requirements. For example, if Template A requires an Access Code and Template B requires SMS authentication, combining templates will require both an Access Code and SMS authentication for the signer. This can always be adjusted manually prior to sending the envelope.

To combine templates:

• Step 1: Create a new envelope.
• Step 2: Under “Add Documents”, select “Upload” and “Use a Template.”
• Step 3: Select both templates to send.
• Step 4: Review the recipients and routing orders to ensure it has all been properly combined.
• Step 5: Continue drafting and sending the envelope as you normally would!

Video: Watch a walk-through of the setup and process

Follow along in this quick video to learn how to implement the steps.

Best Practice:

• Take the time to review the templates separately to make combining quick and painless
• Familiarize yourself with the process in a Docusign demo or training account first to practice
• Share the templates with all users who need access so they can benefit from combining as well 

Join the conversation

Have you tried combining templates before? What use cases were you able to cover by having this option? Let us know in the comments below - we’d love to hear more from you!