---
title: "Lacuna Signer - Anchor texts"
description: "How to use anchor texts in Lacuna Signer to position signatures and initials automatically: preparing the PDF, linking participants, signature rules, API and common problems."
canonical: "https://docs.lacunasoftware.com/en-us/articles/signer/user-guide/textos-ancora"
locale: "en"
product: "Signer"
last_updated: "2026-11-11"
---

# Lacuna Signer - Anchor texts

An anchor text is a piece of text written in the PDF between double square brackets, such as `[[buyer]]`.
[Signer](https://docs.lacunasoftware.com/en-us/articles/signer) uses it to position a participant's signature or initials over that point of the document on
its own, without anyone clicking the page.

> **Note**
>
> Available from version 3.3.0 on, when the `VisualRepresentation:AnchoredMarksEnabled` setting is enabled in the
> instance.

## Preparing the PDF

In the document, write the participant's name between double square brackets where the signature should appear:
`[[buyer]]`, `[[witness 1]]`, `[[director initials]]`. The name is free; it just cannot contain `[` or `]`.

![Anchors in the source document](https://docs.lacunasoftware.com/images/signer/anchor-text-pdf-source.png)

* **Case and spaces do not matter.** `[[Buyer]]`, `[[buyer]]` and `[[ BUYER ]]` are the same anchor.
* **The mark is centered on the anchor and rests on its baseline**, like on a signature line, and is adjusted so that
  it does not fall outside the page. Its size is the default signature or initials size configured in the
  installation.
* **Write the anchor where the signature should appear**, not on the line above or below it.
* **The anchor text remains in the signed document.** It is neither erased nor covered.
* **To keep the anchor from showing in the document, write it in white text.** Signer reads the PDF's text layer; the
  color makes no difference.
* **A scanned (image) PDF does not work.** Without a text layer there is nothing to look for; generate the PDF from
  the text editor or run OCR on it first.

> **Tip**
>
> The same anchor can repeat in the document, on several pages or on several lines of the same page. How many marks that
> creates depends on the signature type, as
> [How many marks each anchor creates](https://docs.lacunasoftware.com/en-us/articles/signer/user-guide/textos-ancora#how-many-marks-each-anchor-creates) explains.

## Uploading the document

Upload the PDF in **New document**. If there are anchors, Signer tells you how many it found.

![Notice of anchor texts found](https://docs.lacunasoftware.com/images/signer/anchor-text-upload-notice.png)

## Linking participants to anchors

Every new participant is already linked to the next free anchor, and the mark appears right away, with the anchor's
name next to the position.

![Mark positioned by an anchor on the participant card](https://docs.lacunasoftware.com/images/signer/anchor-text-mark-chip.png)

To adjust the link, use the controls on the participant card. The **Use anchor text** toggle turns automatic
positioning on and off; below it are the **Signature anchor** and **Initials anchor** selectors (the latter only when
the participant has initials).

![Anchor selectors on the participant card](https://docs.lacunasoftware.com/images/signer/anchor-text-participant-card.png)

These rules apply:

| Rule | How it works |
|---|---|
| One anchor, one mark | Each anchor serves a single mark of a single participant. An anchor already in use does not appear in the other participants' lists. |
| Automatic link | When the PDF is uploaded, each ordinary participant gets the next free anchor: a signer through the signature, an approver through the initials, which in that case become required. |
| Signature rules | They are not linked on their own: someone has to choose the anchor, either on the card or on the pre-positioning screen. |
| Anchor order | Reading order: first file, first page, top to bottom and left to right. That order decides which anchor is offered first. |
| Signature and initials | They are separate marks, each with its own selector and its own anchor. An approver only has initials. |
| Envelope | Pages are counted end to end, across the files. Until Signer knows the total number of pages of every file, nothing is positioned. |

## Checking on the pre-positioning screen

Open the screen through the pencil next to the mark or through the **Choose position** button. There, each anchor is
outlined on the page with its name, and you choose the anchor of each mark of the selected participant.

![Pre-positioning screen with the anchors outlined](https://docs.lacunasoftware.com/images/signer/anchor-text-prepositioned.png)

The **Anchor texts in the document** panel lists every anchor in the document, which pages they appear on, who is
linked to each one, and takes you to the anchor on the page.

![Anchor texts in the document panel](https://docs.lacunasoftware.com/images/signer/anchor-text-anchor-panel.png)

> **Note**
>
> The selectors only appear on the selected participant, one set at a time.

## How many marks each anchor creates

A repeated anchor does not always become several signatures. The signature type is what decides.

| Mark | Signature type | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Signature | Simple (electronic) | One mark on **each page** where the anchor appears. Repeated twice on the same page, the topmost one wins. |
| Signature | Advanced or qualified | **One mark in the whole document**, on the first occurrence; the others are ignored. |
| Initials | Any | One mark on **each page** where the anchor appears. |

In a signature rule the limit is always one mark per required signer, even for simple signatures.

## N-of-M signature rules

A rule that requires several signatures can use anchors in two ways.

**One anchor for the whole rule**, chosen on the participant card. The anchor has to repeat at least as many times as
the number of required signers, and the occurrences fill the slots in reading order: the first goes to the 1st signer,
the second to the 2nd, and so on. This is the case of a block of witnesses, with `[[witness]]` repeated line by line.

An anchor that appears fewer times than the rule requires is disabled in the list, with a notice of how many
occurrences are missing.

![Anchor without enough occurrences for the rule](https://docs.lacunasoftware.com/images/signer/anchor-text-missing-occurrences.png)

**One anchor per signer**, chosen on the pre-positioning screen. Select the signer in the list on the right (the rule
has one row per required signature) and choose their anchor; repeat for the next one. Each signer gets one mark, on
the first occurrence of their anchor. This serves different roles within the same rule, such as
`[[managing partner]]` and `[[attorney-in-fact]]`.

![One anchor for each signer of the rule](https://docs.lacunasoftware.com/images/signer/anchor-text-rule-slots.png)

## When the link is undone

![Selector showing Position manually](https://docs.lacunasoftware.com/images/signer/anchor-text-manual.png)

* **Positioning, dragging, resizing or deleting the mark by hand** undoes the anchor of that mark, and only of that
  one: the participant's other mark stays anchored. The selector starts showing *Position manually*.
* **Turning the Use anchor text toggle off** releases the participant's anchors, deletes the marks they had
  positioned and brings back the *Choose position* button. The released anchors become available to the others again.
* **Replacing the document with one without anchor texts** undoes everything the anchors had positioned and turns off
  positioning for whoever was only anchored; marks made by hand remain.
* **Removing a file** takes away the marks of that file; the participants stay linked to the anchors of the remaining
  files.
* **Changing the participant's type** (a signer becomes an approver, for example) releases the anchor of the mark they
  no longer have.

## In the signed document

Marks positioned by an anchor count as any other pre-positioned mark: whoever signs no longer chooses the position,
and the signature comes out exactly over the anchor.

![Signed document with the marks over the anchors](https://docs.lacunasoftware.com/images/signer/anchor-text-signed.png)

## Using anchors through the API

Whoever creates documents through an integration sends the anchors in `AnchoredMarks`, inside each flow action,
instead of positioning marks by coordinates.

| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| `AnchorText` | The text to look for, for example `[[buyer]]`. Spaces are ignored in the comparison. |
| `Type` | Signature or initials. A type the action does not accept is refused (an approver only takes initials). |
| `OffsetX` / `OffsetY` | Offset in points from the top left corner of the anchor. Positive goes right and down. |
| `Width` / `Height` | Size of the mark in points. Zero uses the default of the type. |
| `CaseSensitive` | Tells uppercase from lowercase. Default: no. |
| `IgnoreIfNotPresent` | Default `true`: a missing anchor is ignored. With `false`, creation fails with `DocumentMarkAnchorNotFound`. |

Other points about the integration:

* The creation response carries `MissingAnchors`, with the texts that were looked for and not found, useful to warn
  the end user.
* Anchors also work when editing the flow of an existing document (`POST documents/{id}/flow`): the actions sent in
  `AddedFlowActions` accept `AnchoredMarks`, and the response carries `MissingAnchors` with the texts that were not
  found, or null when all of them were found.
* `GET uploads/{id}/pdf-info` lists the anchors of the uploaded file, with page and coordinates, in the same reading
  order as the interface. With `?anchors=false` Signer does not read the text layer: `Anchors` comes back empty and
  `PageCount` comes back zero, for callers that only need the other information about the file.
* Two flow actions cannot compete for the same anchor, nor can the same action use it in two marks: creation is
  refused.
* Just like the interface, the API accepts **several anchors in one rule**: they fill the slots in the order they come
  in the list, respecting the limit of one mark per required signer. The only difference is how each signer is
  chosen: here by the order of the list, in the interface by the signer's row on the pre-positioning screen.
* With the feature disabled in the installation, creating with `AnchoredMarks` responds `AnchoredMarksDisabled`.

## Common problems

| Symptom | What to check |
|---|---|
| No anchor found | The PDF is scanned (no text layer); the brackets are doubled; the anchor was not broken into two lines by the editor; the feature is enabled in the installation. |
| The anchor shows up printed in the document | That is expected: the text is not erased. Write it in white in the source document. |
| Anchor disabled in the list, with "N occurrences missing" | The rule requires more signatures than the anchor has occurrences. Repeat the anchor in the document, lower the number of signers or give one anchor to each of them. |
| An anchor disappears from a participant's list | Another participant is already using it. Release it there first. |
| Only one signature in a document with the anchor on several pages | Advanced or qualified signature type: one mark per document. |
| The mark came out misplaced | The anchor is on a different line from where the signature should appear; move the text in the source document. Through the API, adjust `OffsetX` and `OffsetY`. |
| The selector changed to *Position manually* on its own | The mark was dragged, resized or repositioned, and that undoes the anchor. Choose the anchor again to bring it back. |
| Nothing is positioned in an envelope | Some file has not had its pages counted yet; wait for the processing to finish. |

## See also

* [User guide](https://docs.lacunasoftware.com/en-us/articles/signer/user-guide)
* [Document generation](https://docs.lacunasoftware.com/en-us/articles/signer/user-guide/gen-docs)
* [Signer settings](https://docs.lacunasoftware.com/en-us/articles/signer/on-premises/settings)