Plenty of documents only need to be filled in and signed: a rental application, a timesheet, a consent form or a delivery note. Sign PDF opens the pages in an editor made for that. Type into the form's own fields, write on the page where there are none, and place your signature, initials, ticks and the date exactly where they belong, then download the finished file.
How to use Sign PDF
- Add the PDF. Its pages open in the editor.
- Use Fill in form to type into fields the PDF already has, and Text for anywhere else.
- Open Sign to make a signature or initials: type your name in a handwriting style, draw it, upload a picture or take a photo of it.
- Click the page to place it, drag to move or resize it, then select Save Signed PDF.
Four ways to make a signature
- Type your name and pick one of more than a dozen handwriting styles, in the ink colour you prefer.
- Draw: Sign with a mouse, a trackpad or a finger on a touch screen.
- Upload or photograph: Use a picture of your signature on paper. The paper can be made transparent, or the strokes redrawn in one ink colour, so it sits on the page like real ink.
- Kept for next time: Signatures and initials you keep are stored in this browser only, and nothing about them reaches the server until you save a document.
Filling in the rest
- Form fields: If the PDF has fillable fields, Fill in form shows them as boxes on the page to type into, and your answers are written into the fields themselves.
- Flat forms: On a scanned or printed form without fields, add text where the lines are, and use the tick, cross and dot for boxes to mark.
- Dates: Today's date is placed in the format you choose and can be edited like any other text.
Visual signature, not digital signature
- It shows, it doesn't prove: A visual signature shows who signed, but it doesn't prove it.
- Certificate-based signatures: Certificate-based digital signatures, which use cryptography to confirm the signer's identity and reveal later changes, are a different technology that this tool doesn't provide.
- Whether it's accepted: Whether a drawn or typed signature is acceptable depends on the document and the rules where you are. Contracts, government forms and financial documents often require a stronger method.
- When in doubt, ask the recipient what they accept.
Before you send it
- Lock the result: To stop the signature being edited or removed casually, flatten the signed file with Flatten PDF, and use Protect PDF if the document contains personal information.
- Making a form of your own: To turn a document into a form other people fill in, use PDF Forms.
- Where to read more: The PDF privacy guide covers what signed documents can reveal about you.
When people use Sign PDF
Applications and consent forms
Fill in and sign rental, school and consent forms without printing them.
Timesheets and delivery notes
Return signed timesheets or proof-of-delivery notes, initialled on every page if needed.
Internal approvals
Sign off purchase requests, expense claims or policy drafts that only need a visible approval.
Limitations to know
Sign PDF adds drawn, typed or photographed signatures as pictures on the page. It isn't a certificate-based digital signature, so it may not satisfy formal signing requirements, and saved signatures stay in the browser that made them.
Sign PDF: common questions
Is this a legally binding signature?
That depends on the document, the recipient and the law where you are. It's a visual signature, not a certificate-based digital signature, so check what's required before relying on it.
Can I draw or upload my handwritten signature?
Yes. Draw it on screen, upload a picture of it, or photograph it with your camera. A picture can have its paper background removed.
Can I choose exactly where the signature goes?
Yes. Click where it should go on any page, then drag it, or its corner, to move and resize it.
Can I add my initials to every page?
Make your initials once in the Sign menu, then click each page where they belong.
Can someone remove the signature?
It's added as a picture on the page, so editing software can still remove it. Flatten the document to make that much harder.