How to Sign a PDF

Signing a PDF the simple way

A signature is the last step on many documents — a form, an approval, a contract, a letter. Printing, signing, and scanning is slow, and it needs a printer. Signing a PDF on screen is faster: you place your signature where it belongs and send the file on. This tool lets you sign a PDF in your browser, in three ways.

You can draw your signature with your mouse or your finger, you can type your name and have it rendered in a handwriting style, or you can upload a photo or a scan of your real signature. Choose the page, click the preview to place the signature, then drag it into position and resize it until it sits where it should — over the signature line, not over the text. One file per run, up to 100 MB. The result is a PDF with your signature on the page, ready to send.

The honest limit is the most important part of this guide, so read it carefully. This is a picture of a signature stamped onto a page — not a digital certificate. It does not prove who signed the document, it does not prove the document was unchanged afterwards, and it does not lock the file. Anyone can copy the image, and anyone can edit the PDF after you sign it. For everyday agreements — a form, an internal approval, a letter where a visible signature is enough — that is the same as a scanned handwritten signature, and it is fine. For a contract that needs a certified digital signature, this tool is not the right one, and no free online signer that only stamps an image is.

A few practical tips. If you sign often, upload a clean scan of your signature once and reuse it — it will look better than a mouse-drawn signature every time. Place the signature on the line, not across the text, and check the size: a signature that is too large looks careless, and one that is too small looks like a mistake. Sign the final version of the document, not a draft, and keep a copy of the unsigned file — once the signature is stamped, the only way to move it is to start over from the original.

It also helps to know when a visible signature is enough and when it is not. A form that asks for a signature, an approval that needs a name on it, a letter that needs to look finished — all of these are fine with a stamped signature image, because what matters is that a signature is there, not how it was made. A contract that will be disputed, a document that must prove who signed it and when, or a filing that a court or a bank must accept — those need a certified digital signature, with a certificate that ties the signature to a person and locks the file afterwards. This tool does not do that, and it says so plainly, because a signature that pretends to be a certificate is worse than no signature at all.

If you sign the same way often, keep one clean scan of your signature and reuse it. A scan made once, on white paper, with a dark pen, will look better than a signature drawn with a mouse every time — and it will look the same on every document, which is how a real signature behaves. Store the scan somewhere safe, and do not share it: anyone with the image can stamp it onto any document, and that is true of every signature image, not just this one. A signature is only as safe as the file that holds it.

Everything runs in your browser. Your document is never uploaded to a server, so a private agreement stays on your device. There is no account, no daily limit, and no watermark. Open the tool, drop your PDF, place your signature, and send it.

How to use this tool

1. 1Drop one PDF onto the eSign PDF page — up to 100 MB.
2. 2Make your signature: draw it with your mouse or finger, type your name in handwriting style, or upload a photo or scan of your signature.
3. 3Choose the page, click the preview to place the signature, then drag it and resize it.
4. 4Press Sign PDF and download the signed file.
5. 5Open the signed PDF and check the signature sits where it should before you send it.