Render signed signatures and initials with a wrapped credibility treatment

[jmkritt]

Problem

The current rendering of signed signatures in the result PDF places the signature image with an optional plain-text "ID + Digitally signed by NAME + timestamp" caption beside or below it depending on field aspect ratio. Signed initials get no caption — just a bare image. There's no consistent visual framing.

Compared to industry-standard outputs (DocuSign, Adobe Sign), recipients of DocuSeal-signed PDFs see a plainer rendering that doesn't match the bracketed signature visual conventions they're accustomed to. In real-estate transactions specifically, where title companies, lenders, and counterparties have learned what a "properly signed contract" looks like through years of DocuSign exposure, the plainer style can read as less polished — even when the underlying validity is identical.

Motivation

Built for a residential real-estate signing workflow where clients and title companies are accustomed to the bracketed signature visual format. Sharing upstream in case it's useful — happy to iterate on the design, split into smaller commits, or close the PR if it doesn't fit DocuSeal's design preferences. No demonstrated upstream demand for this — just one user's contribution from real-world use.

Change

Adds a "wrap" credibility treatment for signed signature and initials fields:

• Left-side amber bracket rendered via HexaPDF path drawing in generate_result_attachments.rb, height matched to the signature image, asymmetric bottom-stub flourish.
• Header in Helvetica-Bold: Digitally signed by: for signatures, Initials: for initials.
• Centered signature image scaled to fit available space.
• Truncated document ID below the signature (signature only — initials drop the caption to fit small fields).
• Adaptive layout: counts how many footer lines fit at the rendered field size; drops the ID line first, then the caption line, before crushing the image.
• Mirrored treatment in the live signing UI (area.vue) and the post-sign view (_value.html.erb) so what the signer sees during review matches the generated PDF.
• Typed-initials font alias fix in generate_font_image.rb: switched from Go Noto Bold to Dancing Script. Matches the typed signature font (which is already Dancing Script), fixing the visual inconsistency where typed signatures rendered cursive but typed initials rendered sans-serif.

Trade-offs and decisions

• Helvetica vs Go Noto for the bracket text: Helvetica is one of the 14 standard PDF fonts and keeps the credibility text crisp. Non-Latin scripts (CJK, Arabic, Hebrew) won't render in the bracket header — Helvetica falls back to whatever it has for those locales. The signature image itself still renders correctly using the existing Go Noto Unicode font. Open to suggestions if upstream prefers a Unicode-safe typography choice.
• Default behavior unchanged: the wrap is only rendered when with_signature_id is enabled (existing config flag, default false). Existing users who haven't opted in see no change.
• No data-model change: pure rendering layer. No new fields, no new configs, no migration.

Diff size

4 files, +210 −151 lines (most of it the HexaPDF drawing in the result-attachments generator).

Notes

Happy to provide screenshots if helpful — the visual is hard to convey from the diff alone.