Last checked by the TextEditor.com team
How to sign a PDF online
- Open the fileDrop the PDF on the box or click to choose it. The first page shows large.
- Make your signatureDraw it, type your name, or upload a photo of it. Click Save signature.
- Place and downloadClick the saved signature, then click the line on the page. Add the date if you need it. Click Download signed PDF.
The signature can be moved by dragging and resized from its corner. Click a page thumbnail at the bottom to sign another page. Your saved signatures stay in this browser, so the next contract takes a few seconds.
Electronic signature or digital signature?
The two names sound alike but mean different things. An electronic signature is any mark you make to agree to something: a drawn name, a typed name, a tick in a box. A digital signature is a piece of math. Software signs the file with a certificate, and a reader can later check that the file was not changed and who signed it.
In the EU, the eIDAS regulation (910/2014, in force since 2016) says a signature can't be refused in court only because it is electronic. In the US, the ESIGN Act of 2000 gives electronic signatures the same standing as ink for most business. In both places, some papers still need special handling: wills, some family law papers, court orders, and papers a notary must see. Banks and public offices often ask for a certified digital signature. This is a short summary, not legal advice. When the stakes are high, ask the other side what they accept.
| Signature from this page | Certified digital signature | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A picture of your signature in the page, plus text for date and name | A cryptographic seal over the whole file, bound to a certificate |
| Shows in every reader | Yes, it is part of the page | Yes, usually with a blue bar or a badge |
| Can a reader check who signed? | No | Yes, if the certificate is trusted |
| Detects later changes | No | Yes |
| Good for | Everyday contracts, forms, permission slips, invoices, offers | Banks, public offices, anything that must be audited |
| Needs an account or software | No | Yes: a certificate and a signing app |
How the signature gets into the file
When you click Download, the page draws your signature as a PNG picture into the content of the page, at the spot and size you chose. The date and your name are written as text in Helvetica, the font every PDF reader has. This is called flattening. There is no separate layer to click on, so a reader can't pull the signature off with one click like a sticky note. Someone with an editor could still cover or copy it, as with any scanned paper. That is the limit of a simple signature, and the reason some offices want a certified one.
Nothing is uploaded at any step. The file is read with pdf.js and written with pdf-lib, both running in your browser. Saved signatures live in your browser's local storage on this device, and the Forget all button deletes them.
How to make a signature that looks good
Draw big. The pad is wide on purpose; the signature is scaled down when it goes on the page, which hides small shakes. A finger on a phone screen works better than a mouse. Use the pen thickness that matches your real pen, usually Medium.
For a photo, sign with a dark pen on plain white paper and shoot it in daylight without a shadow. Keep "Remove the white background" on, so the paper turns see through and only the ink sits on the page. If the ink comes out patchy, the pen was too light: try again.
A typed signature is the quick way for forms where nobody will compare it to your handwriting. It uses the script fonts installed on your own device, so it can look a bit different on another computer.
After signing
Download the file and keep a copy next to the original. Send the signed file by email or through the form that asked for it. If the other side must sign too, they can open the same file on this page and add their signature; the pages are not locked. For a file that must carry a certified signature, use the tool the other side names, such as Adobe Acrobat or DocuSign; this page can't make that kind of seal.
More PDF tools
Need to add text, hide a line or fill in form fields? The PDF editor has the same signature tool plus those. To put several signed files into one, use merge PDF files. A sideways scan is fixed in rotate PDF pages, and photos of a paper form become a file in JPG to PDF.