Printing a form, signing it with a pen and scanning it back is the slow way to return a document. This tool lets you sign a PDF on screen: draw your signature with a mouse, finger or stylus, type your name in a handwriting style, or upload a photo of your real signature, then place it on any page and download the signed copy.
The PDF is opened and stamped inside your browser, so contracts, leases and forms full of personal details are never sent to a server. Note what kind of signature this creates: a visual signature image on the page, much like a scanned pen signature, not a certificate-based digital signature.
Visual signature versus digital signature
In the broad legal sense, an electronic signature is any electronic mark or process a person adopts to show agreement with a document, and a picture of a signature placed on a PDF is one form of it. A digital signature is narrower: a cryptographic seal made with a certificate that identifies the signer and reveals whether the document was changed afterwards. This tool produces the first kind. It does not attach a certificate, verify who you are or make the PDF tamper-evident, and anyone with a PDF editor could copy or remove the image.
Whether a visual signature is enough depends on your jurisdiction and on who receives the document. Simple electronic signatures are widely used for everyday agreements, for example under the US ESIGN Act or the EU eIDAS regulation, but some documents, such as certain property or notarised matters, require a handwritten, qualified or certificate-based signature. When in doubt, ask the recipient. This page is not legal advice.
When a visual signature is usually enough
Everyday forms and permission slips
School permission forms, club registrations, delivery authorisations and internal approval sheets typically need a signature on the line, and a signed PDF returned by email is often accepted.
Agreements where the other side asked for a signed PDF
Freelance contracts, rental applications and quotes are frequently signed this way when the recipient asks for a signed copy back. Add the date next to your signature so it is clear when you signed.
Initialling several pages
Some documents ask for initials or a signature on every page. Create the signature once, place it on each page in turn, and download a single signed file at the end.
Creating and placing your signature
Draw gives you a signature pad that works with a mouse, a finger on a touchscreen or a stylus; press Clear to start over. Type turns your name into a signature in one of three handwriting styles, Dancing Script, Great Vibes and Herr Von Muellerhoff, and names typed in Arabic are written in a Ruqaa style. For both, Ink can be black or blue. Upload takes a PNG, JPG or WebP picture of your signature; with Remove white background switched on, as it is by default, the paper turns transparent so only the ink lands on the page.
Place on page adds the signature to the page you are viewing, and Add date to page adds a date in the Format you pick: written out in the page's language, 2026-10-15, 15/10/2026 or 10/15/2026. Drag a stamp to move it and drag its corner to resize. With a keyboard, focus it and use the arrow keys to move, plus and minus to resize and Delete to remove. The page arrows take you to other pages for more signatures and dates.
Download signed PDF writes the stamps onto the pages as images and adds -signed to the file name. Text stays selectable and the layout does not move.
How to use this tool
- Drop your PDF on the box above or click Choose PDF (up to 200 MB).
- Under Your signature, choose Draw, Type or Upload and create your signature.
- Go to the right page with the page arrows and press Place on page.
- Drag the signature into position and resize it from its corner.
- Optionally pick the Date and Format, then press Add date to page.
- Press Download signed PDF.
Limitations to be aware of
- This is not a certificate-based digital signature: there is no identity check, no audit trail and no tamper evidence.
- Saving rewrites the PDF, so any digital signature already in the file stops validating.
- Form fields are not filled in. Signatures and dates are images placed on top of the page.
- Password-protected PDFs cannot be opened, and a file its owner locked against editing is refused as soon as you open it.