How to sign a PDF without printing it
The print → sign → scan → email ritual wastes fifteen minutes and makes every document look like a photocopy of a photocopy. For the vast majority of everyday paperwork, an image of your real signature placed onto the PDF is all the other side expects.
Step by step
- Create your signature once. In the Sign PDF tool, either draw your signature with a mouse, finger or stylus, or photograph the signature you already have on white paper — the white background is removed automatically.
- Drop in the PDF. The contract stays on your device — nothing is uploaded, which is precisely what you want for the kind of documents that need signatures.
- Click where the signature goes. Click the spot on the page preview; drag to fine-tune, resize with the slider. Initial every page if you need to — placements are unlimited.
- Download the signed PDF. The signature is baked into the page itself, so it renders identically in every PDF viewer. Follow up with Flatten PDF if the document also has form fields you've filled.
Worth knowing
A phone photo of your signature works better than you'd expect: dark pen, white paper, even light, shot straight from above. The tool trims the edges and makes the paper transparent automatically.
Frequently asked questions
Is this legally valid?
For most everyday agreements, letters, internal forms and consents, yes — it's a “simple electronic signature”. Some flows (notarized documents, certain government filings) require certificate-based digital signatures; those need a qualified provider.
Is my contract uploaded somewhere?
No. The whole point of signing in the browser is that the document never leaves your device.