Sign PDF
Sign PDF lets you draw a signature with your mouse or finger, type one in a handwriting font, or upload an image of your own. Drag it onto any page, resize it, and download the signed PDF. This produces a visible signature image, not a cryptographic digital signature.
1 Add your file
Enter the open password to use it here. It is checked in your browser and never sent anywhere.
2 Choose your options
This places a visible signature image onto your page. It is not a cryptographic digital signature — there is no certificate, no identity verification and no tamper-evident seal, so it does not prove who signed or that the document is unchanged since. For most everyday agreements a visible signature is what is asked for and is what this produces. Where a legally binding, verifiable signature is required, you need a certificate-based service, and we would rather tell you that than let you find out later.
How to sign PDF
Add your PDF and make a signature
Draw with your finger or mouse, type your name in a handwriting style, or upload a scan of your own signature.
Place it on the page
Go to the page you need, press Place signature, then drag it where it belongs and resize by the corner.
Download the signed PDF
The signature becomes part of the page. Your original file is untouched.
Signing, and the step people forget afterwards
This places an electronic signature: a mark drawn or uploaded and positioned on the page. It is the same operation as printing, signing and scanning, minus the printer and the loss of quality. What it demonstrates is intent — that whoever produced the document meant to signify agreement.
It is not a cryptographic digital signature, which binds a document to a certificate and lets any reader verify both the signer's identity and that nothing has changed since. For everyday agreements the electronic kind is usually what is being asked for; where a specific standard is required, that requirement is normally stated.
A worked example
A rental application is signed with a drawn signature and the date typed beside it. Before sending, the file is run through Flatten PDF. Without that step the signature remains a separate annotation that the recipient could drag, delete, or hide by switching comments off — flattening turns it from a sticker into part of the page.
Limitations worth knowing
- Always flatten after signing. Until then the signature is a movable, deletable annotation.
- Never flatten a document that already carries a cryptographic digital signature — rewriting the page invalidates it.
- Draw large and scale down. A signature drawn small and enlarged looks shaky.
- Uploaded signatures need a transparent PNG; a JPEG brings a white rectangle that sits visibly on ruled lines.
- Laws on signatures differ by country and document type. For anything consequential, check the requirement in your jurisdiction — we build PDF tools, not legal advice.
Further reading
How to Sign a PDF: Electronic Signatures vs Digital Signatures, What Flattening a PDF Actually Does
Related tools
Sign PDF — frequently asked questions
It produces a visible signature, which is what most everyday agreements ask for and what a scanned-and-emailed signature amounts to. It is not a certificate-based digital signature, so it does not cryptographically prove identity or that the document is unchanged. For anything requiring that, use a qualified signature service.
No. It exists only in this browser tab, and disappears when you close it. That is worth knowing — your signature is exactly the kind of thing you should not be uploading to an unknown server.
Yes. Place a signature, move to another page, and place it again. Each placement is independent, so you can put initials on every page and a full signature at the end.
Photograph it on white paper in good light, upload it, and leave 'Make the white background transparent' ticked. The tool drops near-white pixels so the ink sits cleanly on your document.
It draws the signature directly into the page content rather than leaving it as a movable object, so nobody can drag it off or delete it in a PDF editor. It is on by default and is almost always what you want.
Yes, tick the date option and today's date is printed in small type beneath the signature.