Sign a PDF
Draw your signature with a mouse, a finger or a stylus — or bring a photo of one — then put it where it belongs on the page.
Your signature
Draw with a mouse, a finger or a stylus. A phone or tablet gives the steadiest line. Or bring a photo of a signature on white paper — the paper is blended away.
Where it goes
Drag the signature onto the page, or click where you want it. Arrow keys nudge it; hold Shift for fine steps.
How to sign a PDF
- Choose the PDF you have been asked to sign.
- Draw your signature on the pad, or bring a photo of one.
- Drag it where it belongs, set the width, and save the signed copy.
What signing a PDF actually means
There are two quite different things called signing a PDF. One is a cryptographic signature: a certificate binds the document to an identity, and any later change to the file breaks the seal. The other is a picture of a signature placed on the page — what you would get by printing the document, signing it with a pen and scanning it back in.
This tool does the second one. It is what almost every request to “sign and return” is asking for, and it is what a scanned signature has always been: evidence that a person saw the document and agreed, resting on everything around it rather than on the mark itself.
So it is worth being plain about what the mark does not do. It does not prove who drew it, it does not lock the document, and anyone can copy an image of a signature out of one PDF and into another. A tool that calls this a secure electronic signature is telling you something that is not true.
What it does do is save you the printer, the pen and the scanner, and it keeps the document on your device while you do it. A contract, a lease, a consent form — these are documents with your name, address and agreement on them, and they have no business making a round trip through anyone else's server to get a signature on them.
Questions about signing
Is this a legally binding signature?
That depends on where you are and what you are signing, and no tool can answer it for you. In many places a clear mark of agreement is enough for everyday agreements, and in many others particular documents need a witness, a notary or a certificate-based signature. If the document matters, ask whoever is asking for it what they will accept.
Does it stop the document being changed afterwards?
No. It adds a picture to a page. Nothing here seals the file, and the PDF can be edited afterwards exactly as any PDF can. If you need tamper-evidence, you need a certificate-based signature, which is a different thing entirely.
My signature looks shaky with a mouse.
Mice are poor pens. Drawing on a phone or tablet with a finger or stylus gives a much better line, and the same page works there. Or sign a piece of white paper, photograph it, and bring the photo in — the white is blended away, so only the ink lands on the page.
Can I sign more than one page?
One at a time. Sign the first page, then feed the signed copy back in and sign the next. Your signature stays on the pad between runs.
The page is sideways in the file. Will the signature be too?
No. The signature is placed in the frame you can actually see, so it reads upright on a page that was scanned sideways, and it lands where you put it.
Is my document uploaded?
No. It is signed by your browser on your device, and neither the PDF nor your signature is sent anywhere. The pad is a canvas in this page; nothing about it reaches the network.