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Nexgn Document Automation 2.0 - Multi-PDF Preparation & Editor Upgrades
Nexgn Document Automation 2.0 - Multi-PDF Preparation & Editor Upgrades
Overview
Preparing a document for signing often involves several small but important steps: combining PDF files, entering signer information, placing fields, adjusting page orientation, and ensuring the document is ready before proceeding.
Nexgn Document Automation 2.0 introduces improvements across the SignYourself / Request Setup flows and the Document Editor to make these tasks more flexible and connected.
This release focuses on six improvements: multi-PDF upload and merging, Contact Book autocomplete, stricter setup validation, drag-and-drop document widgets, adding PDFs from the editor sidebar, and synchronized page-thumbnail rotation.
What's New
1. Multi-PDF Upload & Merge
Prepare multiple PDF files as a single document package.
Users can select multiple PDF files in the setup workflow and combine them before continuing to document preparation.
What's included:
- Multiple PDF file selection
- Browser-side PDF assembly
- Page copying and assembly into a unified document
- Loading notification during processing
- Transfer of the assembled document into the preparation workflow
Technical implementation: The merge routine uses pdf-lib, including PDFDocument.create(), copyPages(), and addPage().
User benefit: Users can prepare related PDF documents together rather than completing the initial upload step separately for each file.
2. Contact Book Autocomplete
Make signer entry easier with saved contacts.
The signer details form connects supported name and email inputs to the user's fetched Contact Book data.
What's included:
- Dynamic contact suggestions while typing
- Contact name display
- Secondary email display
- Click-to-select contact mapping
- Automatic population of the corresponding signer details
User benefit: Users preparing requests for familiar signers can reuse saved contact information instead of repeatedly entering the same details.
3. Strict Form Validation
Catch incomplete setup information before opening the editor.
The setup flow validates required information when the user selects Next.
Validation requirements include:
- A document must be selected.
- A document title must be provided.
- Required signer information must be complete.
- Required signer email fields must be populated.
When validation fails, the application displays a clear toast notification and prevents the workflow from continuing.
Technical implementation: Conditional guard clauses in the handleNext flow.
User benefit: Users receive feedback about missing information before proceeding to document preparation.
4. Drag-and-Drop Document Widgets
Place interactive fields directly on the PDF canvas.
The Document Editor improves widget placement through drag-and-drop interaction and contextual controls.
What's included:
- Draggable sidebar widgets
- Grab-cursor interaction
- Placement of supported widgets onto the PDF canvas
- Contextual mini-toolbar for selected widgets
- Delete and Duplicate actions
- Zoom-aware widget positioning calculations
Technical implementation: react-rnd, HTML5 drag-and-drop events, and scale-aware coordinate calculations.
User benefit: Users can position and manage document fields directly on the page with a more interactive editing experience.
5. Add Page / PDF from the Sidebar
Extend the document without leaving the editor.
An Add Page / PDF action is introduced beneath the page-thumbnail stack in the editor sidebar.
What's included:
- Dedicated Add Page / PDF button
- File selection through a hidden file input
- PDF appending through the existing merge routine
- Updated current-document state after assembly
User benefit: Users can add further PDF content during preparation instead of restarting the initial document setup.
6. Live Thumbnail Rotation
Keep page previews aligned with document rotation.
Page-thumbnail rendering is updated to reflect the rotation state used by the document canvas.
What's included:
- Rotation-state synchronization
- Updated thumbnail viewport configuration
- Page preview updates following the canvas rotation action
Technical implementation: The rotation state is passed into the pdfjsLib viewport configuration in ThumbnailRenderer.
User benefit: The thumbnail navigator provides a more consistent visual representation of rotated pages during document preparation.
Updated Document Preparation Workflow
The improved workflow connects setup and editor interactions into a more flexible sequence.
- Open Sign Yourself or Request Signature.
- Select one or more PDF files.
- Allow the application to assemble the selected PDFs.
- Enter signer details or select saved contacts.
- Complete the required document and signer information.
- Continue to the Document Editor after validation succeeds.
- Drag supported fields onto the PDF canvas.
- Adjust field placement and use the available widget actions.
- Append additional PDF content when needed.
- Review page previews and rotation before continuing with the applicable signing workflow.
Why We Built Document Automation 2.0
The document editor is a central part of the Nexgn experience. Small interruptions during preparation—switching between files, repeatedly entering signer details, correcting missing setup information, or leaving the editor to add pages—can make the overall process less convenient.
This release addresses those specific points in the workflow by connecting PDF assembly, contact selection, validation, interactive field placement, page expansion, and thumbnail rendering.
The objective is to make the preparation experience more continuous, predictable, and flexible.
Product Thinking Behind This Release
Reduce unnecessary steps without removing user control.
The focus is not simply to add more editor controls. It is to connect the tasks users perform before signing into a workflow that is easier to follow.
- Multi-PDF merging brings related files together.
- Contact autocomplete reduces repeated signer entry.
- Setup validation identifies missing information earlier.
- Drag-and-drop widgets make field placement interactive.
- PDF appending supports document expansion within the editor.
- Thumbnail rotation keeps page navigation aligned with canvas changes.
Together, these improvements build on Nexgn's core signing experience and advance its document-preparation capabilities.
Engineering & Quality Considerations
The updated workflow should be validated for:
- Correct PDF assembly and page order
- Graceful handling of invalid or unreadable PDFs
- Clear processing and error feedback
- Consistent widget placement at different zoom levels
- Correct thumbnail rendering after rotation
- Reliable state updates after appending PDF pages
- Appropriate behavior when no Contact Book suggestions match
- Prevention of incomplete setup forms from opening the editor
What's Next
Future product development can build on this foundation through further document-workflow reliability improvements and carefully validated automation features.
Potential areas for exploration include scheduled document sending, configurable signature reminders, and additional improvements to recurring signing workflows. These remain separate product initiatives unless delivered in a later release.
Release Information
- Product: Nexgn
- Version:
v1.1.0 - Release title: Nexgn Document Automation 2.0
- Publisher: NoCapCode
- Product category: PDF document preparation, digital signatures, and document workflow automation
- Previous release:
v1.0.0
Nexgn Document Automation 2.0 builds on the first major production release by improving how users assemble PDFs, prepare signer information, position interactive fields, and manage pages before signing.