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---
title: Announcing Documenso
description: Launching an open-source document signing tool because trusted-based products should be built on openness. The first release will be in 2023. Sign up at documenso.com to be on board.
authorName: 'Timur Ercan'
authorImage: '/blog/blog-author-timur.jpeg'
authorRole: 'Co-Founder'
date: 2022-12-29
tags:
- Announcement
---
<figure>
<MdxNextImage
src="/blog/blog-banner-announcing-documenso.webp"
width="1400"
height="884"
alt="Documenso announcement blog banner"
/>
<figcaption className="text-center">Documenso — The DocuSign Open Source Alternative.</figcaption>
</figure>
## TL; DR;
I am launching an open-source document signing tool because trusted-based products should be built on openness. The first release will be in 2023. Sign up at <a href="https://documenso.com" target="_blank">documenso.com</a> to be on board.
## Let’s build the world’s most trusted document-signing tool.
Today I am excited to announce my new Project Documenso. Documenso is an open-source document signing tool you can host yourself and freely build upon because it is, you know, open-source. Before I get more into the details of what and when will be launched I want to take a moment and talk about why.
## Digital signing is great
Signing Documents digitally has countless benefits: Less struggle with printing, less wasting paper, faster request delivery, easier changes, easier coordination of people far away, verifiable document integrity, and verifiable signer identity (this is a vast topic, will write more on soon), easier storage and search of signed documents, the list goes on. Digital Signatures take something very old and very trusted like personally signing documents into the digital space, adding the benefits listed above. It also introduces a new party to every signing transaction, the signing tool providers. What was peer to peer transaction before, now goes through an intermediary. While this is not a problem in itself, it should make us think about how we want these providers of trust to work.
## How do we build trusted systems?
While doing research for Documenso I came upon a quote that expresses the current state of document signing pretty well:
> Document signing is NOT a technical problem. [Editor’s Note: Because it was solved technically a long time ago] It’s a legal acceptance problem — and everyone KNOWS DocuSign and friends and understands how they’re admissible. Anything else would have to compete with that and people would be suspicious of it for a long time.
While this may sound like a hurdle at first, it immediately gave me a sense of validation for a more open approach to signing. People will and should be suspicious of their tools and demand a high bar when it comes to trust. And the way to earn this trust is by being open. Trusted tools should be the result of thoughtful discussion and reviews. They should be the result of the needs and will of its community. They should be transparent, adaptable, and empowering while using. Open-Source embodies these values very well for software, which makes it a perfect fit for this space and creating a high-trust tool.
## Next Steps
So, what can you expect from here on out? I have started to build Documenso 0.1 which is scheduled to release in “early” 2023. If you are interested in helping make this happen, let me know via hi@documenso.com. Getting working code into the hands of the perspective Documenso community is currently the #1 goal. Other than that I will be releasing several articles about document signing and what something like Documenso should look like, in my humble opinion. So stay tuned!
If you think Documenso is worthy of support, please share <a href="https://documenso.com" target="_blank">documenso.com</a> with anyone interested, and sign up to be among the first to try out version 0.1 as soon as it launches.
Cheers from Hamburg
Timur

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---
title: 'Building Documenso — Part 1: Certificates'
description: In today's fast-paced world, productivity and efficiency are crucial for success, both in personal and professional endeavors. We all strive to make the most of our time and energy to achieve our goals effectively. However, it's not always easy to stay on track and maintain peak performance. In this blog post, we'll explore 10 valuable tips to help you boost productivity and efficiency in your daily life.
authorName: 'Timur Ercan'
authorImage: '/blog/blog-author-timur.jpeg'
authorRole: 'Co-Founder'
date: 2023-06-23
tags:
- Open Source
- Document Signature
- Certificates
- Signing
---
<figure>
<MdxNextImage
src="/blog/blog-banner-building-documenso.webp"
width="1200"
height="675"
alt="Building Documenso blog banner"
/>
<figcaption className="text-center">
What actually is a signature?
</figcaption>
</figure>
> Disclaimer: I’m not a lawyer and this isn’t legal advice. We plan to publish a much more specific framework on the topic of signature validity.
This is the first installment of the new Building Documenso series, where I describe the challenges and design choices that we make while building the world’s most open signing platform.
As you may have heard, we launched the community-reviewed <a href="https://github.com/documenso/documenso" target="_blank">version 0.9 of Documenso on GitHub</a> recently and it’s now available through the early adopter’s plan. One of the most fundamental choices we had to make on this first release, was the choice of certificate. While it’s interesting to know what we opted for, this shall also serve as a guide for everyone facing the same choice for self-hosting Documenso.
> Question: Why do I need a document signing certificate to self-host?
>
> Short Answer: Inserting the images of a signature into the document is only part of the signing process.
To have an actual digitally signed document you need a document signing certificate that is used to create the digital signature that is inserted into the document, alongside the visible one¹.
When hosting a signature service yourself, as we do, there are four main choices for handling the certificate: Not using a certificate, creating your own, buying a trusted certificate, and becoming and trusted service provider to issue your own trusted certificate.
## 1\. No Certificate
A lot of signing services actually don’t employ actual digital signatures besides the inserted image. The only insert and image of the signatures into the document you sign. This can be done and is legally acceptable in many cases. This option isn’t directly supported by Documenso without changing the code.
## 2\. Create your own
Since the cryptography behind certificates is freely available as open source you could generate your own using OpenSSL for example. Since it’s hardly more work than option 1 (using Documenso at least), this would be my minimum effort recommendation. Having a self-created (“self-signed”) certificate doesn’t add much in terms of regulation but it guarantees the document’s integrity, meaning no changes have been made after signing². What this doesn’t give you, is the famous green checkmark in Adobe Acrobat. Why? Because you aren’t on the list of providers Adobe “trusts”.³
## 3\. Buy a “trusted” certificate.
There are Certificate Authorities (CAs) that can sell you a certificate⁴. The service they provide is, that they validate your name (personal certificates) or your organization’s name (corporate certificate) before creating your certificate for you, just like you did in option 2. The difference is, that they are listed on the previously mentioned trust lists (e.g. Adobe’s) and thus the resulting signatures get a nice, green checkmark in Adobe Reader⁵
## 4\. Becoming a Trusted Certificate Authority (CA) yourself and create your own certificate
This option is an incredibly complex endeavour, requiring a lot of effort and skill. It can be done, as there are multiple CAs around the world. Is it worth the effort? That depends a lot on what you’re trying to accomplish.
<center>.&nbsp;&nbsp;.&nbsp;&nbsp;.</center>
## What we did
Having briefly introduced the options, here is what we did: Since we aim to raise the bar on digital signature proliferation and trust, we opted to buy an “Advanced Personal Certificates for Companies/Organisations” from WiseKey. Thus, documents signed with Documenso’s hosted version look like this:
<figure>
<MdxNextImage
src="/blog/blog-fig-building-documenso.webp"
width="1262"
height="481"
alt="Figure 1"
/>
<figcaption className="text-center">The famous green checkmark: Signed by hosted Documenso</figcaption>
</figure>
There weren’t any deeper reasons we choose WiseKey, other than they offered what we needed and there wasn’t any reason to look much further. While I didn’t map the entire certificate market offering (yet), I’m pretty sure something similar could be found elsewhere. While we opted for option 3, choosing option 2 might be perfectly reasonable considering your use case.⁶
> While this is our setup, for now, we have a bigger plan for this topic. While globally trusted SSL Certificates have been available for free, courtesy of Let’s Encrypt, for a while now, there is no such thing as document signing. And there should be. Not having free and trusted infrastructure for signing is blocking a completely new generation of signing products from being created. This is why we’ll start working on option 4 when the time is right.
Do you have questions or thoughts about this? As always, let me know in the comments, on <a href="http://twitter.com/eltimuro" target="_blank">twitter.com/eltimuro</a>
or directly: <a href="https://documen.so/timur" target="_blank">documen.so/timur</a>
Join the self-hoster community here: <a href="https://documenso.slack.com/" target="_blank">https://documenso.slack.com/</a>
Best from Hamburg
Timur
\[1\] There are different approaches to signing a document. For the sake of simplicity, here we talk about a document with X inserted signature images, that is afterward signed once the by signing service, i.e. Documenso. If each visual signature should have its own digital one (e.g. QES — eIDAS Level 3), the case is a bit more complex.
\[2\] Of course, the signing service provider technically can change and resign the document, especially in the case mentioned in \[1\]. This can be countered by requiring actual digital signatures from each signer, that are bound to their identity/ account. Creating a completely trustless system in the context however is extremely hard to do and not the most pressing business need for the industry at this point, in my opinion. Though, this would be nice.
\[3\] Adobe, like the EU, has a list of organizations they trust. The Adobe green checkmark is powered by the Adobe trust list, if you want to be trusted by EU standards here: <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-building-blocks/DSS/webapp-demo/validation" target="_blank">https://ec.europa.eu/digital-building-blocks/DSS/webapp-demo/validation</a>, you need to be on the EU trust list. Getting on each list is possible, though the latter is much more work.
\[4\] Technically, they sign your certificate creation request (created by you), containing your info with their certificate (which is trusted), making your certificate trusted. This way, everything you sign with your certificate is seen as trusted. They created their certificate just like you, the difference is they are on the lists, mentioned in \[3\]
\[5\] Why does Adobe get to say, what is trusted? They simply happen to have the most used pdf viewer. And since everyone checks there, whom they consider trusted carries weight. If it should be like this, is a different matter.
\[6\] Self-Signed signatures, even purely visual signatures, are fully legally binding. Why you use changes mainly your confidence in the signature and the burden of proof. Also, some industries require a certain level of signatures e.g. retail loans (QES/ eIDAS Level 3 in the EU).

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---
title: The Documenso Manifest
description: Signing documents is a fundamental building block of private, economic, and government interactions. Access to easy and secure signing to participate in society should therefore be a fundamental right for everyone. The technology to enable this should be accessible and widespread.
authorName: 'Timur Ercan'
authorImage: '/blog/blog-author-timur.jpeg'
authorRole: 'Co-Founder'
date: 2023-07-13
tags:
- Manifesto
---
<figure>
<MdxNextImage
src="/blog/blog-banner-manifest.jpeg"
width="1260"
height="630"
alt="The Documenso Manifest blog banner"
/>
<figcaption className="text-center">
Documenso — The DocuSign Open Source Alternative.
</figcaption>
</figure>
Signing documents is a fundamental building block of private, economic, and government interactions. Access to easy and secure signing to participate in society should therefore be a fundamental right for everyone. The technology to enable this should be accessible and widespread.
We know that open source is the key to solving this need once and for all to benefit all humankind. Using open source kickstarts innovation by putting the open sharing of ideas and solutions first. With Documenso, we will create an open and globally accessible signing platform to empower users, customers, and developers to fulfill their needs. Documenso is built by and for the global community, listening and implementing what is needed. Being transparent with the code and the processes that use it brings trust and security to the platform.
We build Documenso for longevity and scale by embracing the capital efficiency and inclusiveness of the Commercial Open Source (COSS) movement. We are building a global commodity for the world.