Sign a PDF online — draw, type or upload your signature

How to use Sign PDF

1. Choose the PDF you need to sign.
2. Create your signature with one of three tabs: Draw it with a mouse, finger or stylus; Type your name and pick a Style; or Upload a photo or scan of your signature.
3. Pick black or blue ink if you drew or typed it.
4. Go to the right page and click or tap where the signature should go. Drag it into position and pull the corner handle to resize it.
5. Repeat on other pages if needed, then press Sign and save and download the copy ending in -signed.pdf.

What it does and when to use it

Plenty of documents still arrive as PDFs that just need a signature: a rental agreement, a school consent form, an offer letter, a vendor form, a delivery note. Printing, signing and scanning takes time and a printer. This tool puts your signature on the page directly.

The signature is flattened into the page when you save. That means it becomes part of the page content rather than a loose layer, so it shows up the same in every PDF reader and cannot be dragged off by accident.

Three ways to make a signature

Draw. The drawing pad follows your pointer and varies the line weight a little with speed, which looks more natural than a uniform line. A finger on a phone or a stylus on a tablet usually gives the best result. Press Clear to start again.

Type. Enter your name under Your name and choose a style: Script, Handwriting or Serif italic. The preview updates as you type.

Upload. Sign your name on white paper, photograph it, and choose the photo under Photo or scan of your signature. Keep Remove the white background ticked so the paper disappears and only the ink is placed on the page. A dark pen and even lighting give the cleanest result.

How it works

The PDF is shown with pdf.js, so you see the real pages. Your signature is turned into a transparent PNG image in the browser and trimmed to the ink. When you place it, the tool records its page, position and size in PDF units. On Sign and save, pdf-lib draws the image onto each chosen page and writes a new PDF. The original file is not modified and nothing is uploaded at any stage.

Worked examples

A two-page rental agreement. Draw your signature once, go to page 2, and tap above the signature line. Resize it so it sits on the line without covering the printed name below. If the agreement also asks for initials on page 1, switch to Type, enter your initials, and place them at the bottom of that page.

A form you received as a scan. Scanned forms are images, so there is no text layer to worry about. Place the signature as usual. If you also need to write a date or tick a box, use Add Text to PDF on the signed copy.

Signing on a phone. Choose the PDF from your files, use the Draw tab with your finger, and tap the page to place the signature. Drag the corner handle to make the signature smaller if the line is short.

Limits and tips

• This does not add a certificate-based digital signature, timestamp or audit trail.
• To fill in text fields in an interactive form before signing, use the PDF Form Filler.
• If you want a reusable transparent PNG of your signature for other documents, the Signature Pad exports one.
• If the signed file is too large to email or upload, Compress PDF to 500 KB can shrink it; note that converting pages to images also flattens everything.
• To stop others from editing the signed file in well-behaved readers, add a password with Protect PDF.