Photos, Word documents and other files

Updated 21 October 2026

Documents are signed as PDFs. If yours is on paper, photograph it and upload the photos. If it is a Word document or another kind of file, save it as a PDF first: every app can, and it takes a few seconds.

A paper document: photograph it

  1. Lay each page flat in good light, with nothing covering it. Daylight from a window works well; avoid your own shadow.
  2. Take one photo per page, from straight above, with the whole page in the picture.
  3. Choose New document, then choose the photos (on a phone you can take them there and then: tap the upload area and choose your camera). You can also drop them anywhere on the Documents page.
  4. Each photo becomes one page, in the order you chose them, and the document opens in the editor ready for signers and fields.

Photos can be JPG or PNG, up to 30 at a time. Each is turned the right way up, placed on an A4 page and reduced to a sensible size, so the document stays quick to open and sign. This happens on your own device: only the finished PDF is uploaded, never the photos.

You can mix photos with PDFs: a contract as a PDF and a photo of a signed plan, for example. The photos then become their own file in the document.

Photos from an iPhone are usually sent as JPG. If one is refused as an iPhone (HEIC) photo, open it and share it as a JPG, or take the photo again from Docket Secure in your phone’s browser.

A Word document: save it as a PDF

Finish the wording first, then save a PDF copy to send. A PDF looks the same on every device and nobody can change the wording by accident.

  • Word on Windows: File, Save As, then choose PDF under “Save as type”. Or File, Export, Create PDF/XPS.
  • Word on a Mac: File, Save As, then choose PDF under “File Format”.
  • Word in a web browser: File, Create a copy or Export, then Download as PDF.
  • Word on a phone or tablet: open the menu (the three dots), then Export or Share, and choose PDF.
  • Google Docs: File, Download, PDF document (.pdf).
  • Apple Pages: File, Export To, PDF.
  • LibreOffice: File, Export As, Export as PDF.

Then upload the PDF as usual. If you choose a Word file by mistake, Docket Secure tells you these steps instead of uploading it.

Spreadsheets, slides and anything else

  • Excel, Numbers, Google Sheets, PowerPoint, Keynote, Google Slides: the same idea: File, then Save As, Export or Download, and choose PDF.
  • Any program on a computer: choose Print, then pick Save as PDF (Mac) or Microsoft Print to PDF (Windows) as the printer.
  • On an iPhone or iPad: Share, Print, then pinch outwards on the page preview to open it as a PDF, and Share it again to save it to Files.
  • On Android: Share or the menu, Print, then choose Save as PDF as the printer.
  • Uploading a PDF or photos

    Start a document from a PDF or photos of a paper document, join several files into one, size limits, and what to do with a Word file.

  • Getting started

    Create your Docket Secure account, confirm your email and send your first document for signature, step by step.

  • Placing fields on the document

    Put signature, date and other fields on the page, then move, resize, copy, align and undo. Works with a mouse, a keyboard or a touch screen.

  • Fixing common problems

    Emails not arriving, links that won’t open, documents that won’t send, uploads that fail and other common problems, with what to do about each.

Something not working as described here? Email hello@docketsecure.com. Back to the help centre