How to sign a PDF
- Add the PDF you need to sign.
- Make your signature: draw it with a mouse, trackpad or finger, type your name and pick a style, or upload a photo of a signature on white paper — the paper is removed automatically.
- Press Use this signature. It appears on the page below, which opens at the last page because that is usually where signatures go.
- Drag it into position and drag its corner to resize. Tick the date box if you want today's date underneath.
- Choose whether to sign this page, every page or a range, then press Sign and save.
About this tool
Signing a PDF means putting your signature onto the page and saving it as part of the document. This free PDF signer lets you draw, type or upload a signature and place it exactly where it belongs — and it is the tool on this site where running locally matters most.
Consider what the usual alternative involves. You draw your signature on a website, and that image is uploaded to a company's servers along with the contract you are signing. Your signature is a piece of identity that you will reuse for years; the contract is often the most sensitive document you handle all month. Neither has any business sitting on infrastructure you know nothing about. Here the ink is captured on a canvas in your tab, stamped into the PDF by JavaScript running on your machine, and saved to your downloads folder. Nothing is transmitted, so there is nothing to leak, retain or subpoena.
One honest limitation. This produces a visible signature — the digital equivalent of signing a printout and scanning it back. It is not a cryptographic digital signature, so it does not certify who signed or prove the document is unchanged since. For almost every request that begins "can you sign this and send it back", a visible signature is precisely what is wanted. Where a legally certified signature is genuinely required, you need a qualified trust service provider and an identity check, which no free tool of any kind can perform.
Frequently asked questions
- Is my signature uploaded anywhere?
- No, and this is the point of the tool. The signature is drawn, stored and stamped inside your browser. The counter at the top of this page shows zero bytes of file data leaving your device.
- Is this a legally binding signature?
- Often, but that depends on where you are and what you are signing. In many jurisdictions a visible electronic signature is accepted for ordinary agreements, and it is what most people are asked for. It is not a certified digital signature with an identity check behind it. If your situation requires one, use a qualified trust service provider.
- Can I sign every page?
- Yes. Choose "Every page", or name a range like 1, 4-6 to sign only some.
- How do I use a photo of my real signature?
- Sign a sheet of white paper, photograph it in good light, and upload it. Anything close to white is made transparent automatically, so only the ink lands on the document.
- Can someone edit my signature out afterwards?
- The signature is drawn into the page rather than added as an annotation, so it will not simply lift off. For extra certainty, run the signed file through Flatten PDF and then password-protect it.