How to sign a PDF without printing it

Free ways to sign a PDF

How to sign a PDF with Sign PDF

1. Open Sign PDF and choose your PDF. It opens full screen with every page in one column. The file isn't uploaded.
2. Make your signature. The signature box opens straight away. Draw with your mouse, finger or stylus, type your name and pick a handwriting style, or upload a photo of your signature on white paper.
3. Put it in place. Drag the signature to the line, and drag its corner to make it bigger or smaller. Use Initials, Today's date and Text for the other boxes, and ticks or crosses for tick boxes.
4. Press Save PDF and download it. The signed copy has -signed at the end of its name. Open it to check, then send that file.

Initials on every page? Select them and press All pages to add them in the same spot on each page, or Copy to add them again somewhere else. If two people need to sign, each presses Signature and adds their own, one after another. If the other person is somewhere else, send them the signed file and they can add theirs the same way.

Your signature isn't saved anywhere unless you tick Remember on this device. Then it's kept in this browser only, ready for next time, until you press Forget.

Other free ways

Adobe Acrobat Reader

Open the PDF in the free Reader app and choose Fill & Sign (from the Sign icon, or from Tools). Choose Sign, then add a signature or initials by typing, drawing or using an image, and click where it should go. Adobe only keeps your signature for next time if you're signed in to an Adobe account. Adobe's online Fill & Sign also needs an account.

Preview on a Mac

Open the PDF, click Show Markup Toolbar, then the Sign button. Make a signature on the trackpad with your finger, by holding a signature on white paper up to the camera, or by drawing it on your iPhone or iPad. Click it to add it, then drag it into place and resize it. Apple says your signatures sync to your other Macs through iCloud Drive.

iPhone or iPad

For a PDF in an email, open the attachment and tap Markup, then the + button and Add Signature. Draw with your finger, then move the signature into place and tap Done. Or open Sign PDF in Safari, which works the same on a phone as on a computer.

Microsoft Edge

Edge's built-in PDF reader has a Draw pen that Microsoft says can be used to sign, but no tool that keeps a signature for reuse. Writing a neat signature with a mouse is hard, so a tool where you can type or upload your signature is usually easier.

Is an electronic signature legally valid?

For most everyday documents, yes. In each of these places, the law says a signature can't be refused just because it's electronic:

• UK: the Electronic Communications Act 2000 allows electronic signatures as evidence, and the UK version of the eIDAS rules says they can't be denied legal effect just for being electronic. In 2019, the Law Commission confirmed that electronic signatures can be used to sign documents in most cases, even where the law asks for a signature.
• US: the federal ESIGN Act says a signature "may not be denied legal effect, validity, or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form".
• EU: the eIDAS regulation says the same, and the European Commission explains that a "simple" electronic signature can be as basic as typing your name.

There are exceptions. In England and Wales, a will must still be signed on paper in front of two witnesses, and deeds have extra witnessing rules. In the US, ESIGN doesn't cover wills, many family-law documents and court papers. Whoever receives your document may also have their own rules. When in doubt, ask them. This isn't legal advice.

Electronic signature or digital signature?

These sound alike but aren't the same thing:

• Electronic signature: a picture of your signature, or your typed name, placed on the document. That's what Sign PDF, Reader's Fill & Sign, Preview and Markup add, and it's what most forms, letters and agreements need.
• Digital signature: made with a digital certificate issued by a trusted provider. Adobe explains that it identifies the signer and shows whether the document was changed after signing. In the EU, only a "qualified" signature of this kind has the same legal effect as a handwritten one everywhere. Some government, legal and banking processes ask for one, and they'll tell you how to get it.

Tips

• Fill in the form first, then sign. If the PDF has boxes to type in, Edit PDF lets you type in them first.
• Sign a clean copy. Signing the original PDF looks far sharper than signing a scan of a print-out.
• Need to send several documents together? Sign each one, then join them with Merge PDF.