Sign it without the print-sign-scan dance
Somebody emails you a PDF that says "please sign and return." The old way: print it, sign it, scan it (or take a crooked photo of it on your kitchen counter), and email it back. The new way: sign it right here in about thirty seconds.
Two ways to make a signature
Draw it
Use your finger on a phone or tablet, a stylus, a trackpad or a mouse. A finger on a phone screen actually gives the most natural-looking result. Didn't like it? Hit Clear and try again. Everybody's first one looks like a seismograph.
Type it
Type your name and pick a handwriting-style font. It's quick, neat and perfectly fine for most everyday paperwork.
Signing as a business
If you sign lots of paperwork, like quotes, delivery slips and contractor agreements, draw a nice signature once and save it as an image on your device. You can't save it on our site since we don't keep anything, but signing fresh only takes a few seconds anyway.
Placing it on the page
Tap or click the spot where you want your signature, usually right on the signature line. Then drag it to fine-tune and use the corner handle to resize. You can add it to more than one page, which is handy for leases and contracts that want initials on every page. Flip through pages with the arrows.
Want to add the date too? Use the text option to type it next to your signature.
Is this legally binding?
We're not lawyers, so here's the general picture, not legal advice. In the US, the ESIGN Act and UETA, and in the EU the eIDAS regulation, generally treat electronic signatures as valid for most everyday agreements: leases, permission slips, job offers, NDAs, invoices and so on. What matters is that you intended to sign.
A few things usually still need more, like wills, some real estate transfers, certain court documents and notarized forms. When in doubt, ask whoever sent you the document what they'll accept.
Electronic vs. digital signatures
This tool adds an electronic signature: an image of your signature placed on the page, just like signing on paper. It is not a certificate-based digital signature, the kind with a cryptographic ID that some government and corporate systems require and that shows "signed by" info in Acrobat. If someone specifically asked for a digital signature or a certificate, you'll need a dedicated signing service for that one.
Tips for a clean signature
- Turn your phone sideways to get a wider drawing box.
- Sign a bit bigger than you need, then shrink it to fit. Small drawings look shaky when blown up.
- Fill in form fields first. If the PDF has fillable boxes, fill them in your PDF reader, save, then sign here. You can flatten the form afterward so nobody can change the answers.
Phone or computer?
For drawn signatures, a phone usually wins. A fingertip on glass feels a lot more like a pen than a mouse does. If you're on a computer, a laptop trackpad is fine, a mouse is tough, and typing your name is the neatest option of all.
Your signature stays with you
Here's what we like most about this one: your signature and your document never leave your device. Signing happens in your browser. We don't store your signature, we don't see the contract, and there's no account holding a copy of either. More on why that matters in how to sign a PDF without printing.