Inserting Signature Lines

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 31, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


This tip is handy if you are putting together a contract or a form that requires signatures. With some word processors you must guess at positioning signature lines on the page. Word, on the other hand, allows you to precisely position signature lines so they look almost typeset. For example, consider the following type of signature line:

(Your Signature) Date

You can create this signature line by using nothing but tabs, some of them with an underscore leader character. The line for the signature and date (the one with the lines) required the setting of three tabs; two of them right-aligned with an underscore leader, the other simply a left-aligned tab stop with no leader. The information line underneath requires two center-aligned tags. In addition, you should use a smaller-than-normal type size for the information line.

The use of tabs for signature lines allows for much more precise positioning of the lines and the information underneath. Your alternative is to use underscores and spaces to position information, or possibly set up a special table. These alternatives are less simple and more prone to positioning errors.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1761) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Filling Table Cells with a Macro

Want to stuff a value into each cell of a table? You can either type the value over and over and over again, or you can ...

Discover More

Weird Pasting Behavior

The Clipboard is integral to editing data in your worksheets. What happens, though, when the Clipboard doesn't allow you ...

Discover More

Allowing Only Comments in a Document

Develop a document that is to be reviewed by a group of people, and you may want to protect it in some way. One way you ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! Are you ready to harness the full power of Word 2013 to create professional documents? In this comprehensive guide you'll learn the skills and techniques for efficiently building the documents you need for your professional and your personal life. Check out Word 2013 In Depth today!

More WordTips (menu)

Sign-in Sheets

Printed sign-in sheets are a staple at many meetings and seminars. Word can create them lickety-split just by using a few ...

Discover More

Quickly Formatting Multiple Documents

Need to format a bunch of documents so they all look the same? If the documents use styles, doing the formatting is ...

Discover More

Creating an Inline Heading

When settling on an overall design for your document, you need to decide how you want your headings to appear. If you ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is five more than 3?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.