How to Upload a Graphical Signature
Uploading a Graphical Signature
Anyone with access to client maintenance and the ability to edit user accounts through InCommand or InQuiry can add a signature image to a user account.
Scanning the Image
Signatures should be done in clean black ink on white paper. It is best for the signature image to not cross any lines or text, which would then have to be cut away using a graphics editing program. Signatures done on colored papers or with colored inks are difficult to turn into a clean electronic image that will look good on screen or on paper.
All scanners function differently, but the best way to scan an image is to scan it in greyscale at 200DPI or more, and save the image as a graphics file. The preferred file types are PNG and JPG. Refer to the instruction manual for your scanner and graphics package for instructions on how to do this.
Do not scan the image as a black and white image, or at resolutions below 200DPI. This will result in a loss of signature detail, and will create a 'jaggy' image. Below are signature images created from a 100 black and white scan, and an image created from a 300DPI greyscale scan. This shows how the Black and White low DPI image is worse.
Scanned at 100DPI in black and white
Scanned at 300DPI in greyscale
Modifying the Signature Image Before Upload
Use your graphics software to crop the image down to where only the signature is visible. It may also be necessary to adjust the image to remove lines that the signature crosses over, and adjust the darkness or remove background artifacts from the scan. Refer to your graphics software documentation for information on how to use the crop, eraser, levels, scale, and image type tools. We cannot assist you in the use of non-Deliver Health software, so you will have to refer to your graphics software documentation on how to do these tasks.
When scanned, a signature image will usually be too large to put directly into a user account. The general rule of thumb is that an image should be between 45 and 65 pixels in height, and no more than 200 pixels in width. However, it is common to have a user with a signature that is very long, in which case it's best to keep to the minimum hieght of 45 pixels and let the image go over 200 pixels wide. If the signature is very tall, you can let the signature be up to 85 pixels high.
Save the image as a .PNG or .JPG image if possible, though InCommand can also upload images in EMZ format. Again, refer to the documentation for your image editing software for information on how to do this.
Uploading the Image to the User Account
Go to Client Maintenance -> Maintenance -> Users
Select the user that should get the signature image added to their account from the list and then click on the "Upload Signature Images for [username]"
A new window will appear with two sets of Browse... and Upload buttons. For a PNG, JPG, or GIF image, click on the first "Browse..." button, locate the signature image, and then click on the first "Upload" button. If uploading an image from a graphics program that can only save in EMZ format, use the second set of "Browse..." and upload buttons.
It will take up to half-an-hour for a signature image to appear in a user account after it has been uploaded.
Making the Signature Image Appear on Dictations
IMPORTANT: There are settings in the user account that dictate how and when the signature image will appear. Under "Dictating Clinician Options" the setting for "Use Electronic Signature" should be checked, and "Skip Preliminary Folder" should be unchecked. When the dictating user signs into InQuiry, or a mobile device, and they complete a document from the Preliminary folder, their signature image will be added to the document. If anyone other than the dictating user completes the transcription from their signature folder the signature image will not appear.
Alternatively, under the "Print Template Information" tab for the user account, there is a check box for "Always Show Graphical Signature". If this is checked, the dictating user's signature will always show up on their documents even if they never view the transcription. It acts exactly like a 'rubber stamp'.