How to sign a PDF
Updated
To add a signature to a PDF, open the Sign PDF tool, create your signature by drawing it, typing it, or picking a signature image, and place it exactly where the document needs it. Export the result and you have a signed PDF ready to send.
What sets this approach apart is where the work happens. Sign PDF runs entirely in your browser using WebAssembly and browser APIs, so the PDF and the signature you create stay on your device from start to finish. No account is needed — open the page, make your mark, and export.
You also get more range than a single scribble box. There are five ways to make a signature — draw it, type it, pick an image, use a script font, or choose a print-and-scan style — so the result can be as personal or as formal as the document calls for.
Open Sign PDFStep by step
- 1Open the Sign PDF tool.
- 2Pick the PDF you need to sign — the file stays on your device the entire time.
- 3Create your signature: draw it, type it, or pick a signature image you already have.
- 4For a different look, use the script font style or the print-and-scan style instead.
- 5Place the signature exactly where the document needs it — the tool is built for precise placement.
- 6Export your signed PDF and save it to your device.
Five ways to make a signature
Sign PDF offers five ways to make a signature: draw it, type it, pick an image, use a script font, or go with a print-and-scan style. Drawing produces a mark that looks like your handwriting and suits documents where a personal touch matters. Typing is the fastest option, and the script font gives a typed name a handwritten look without any drawing at all. If you already keep a scanned signature as an image file, pick that image and reuse the mark you have always used. The print-and-scan style rounds out the five.
Whichever you choose, the rest works the same way: position the signature precisely on the page, then export.
Your file stays on your device
Sign PDF is an in-browser tool. It runs entirely in your browser with WebAssembly and browser APIs, which means the contract, lease, or offer letter you open never leaves your device — the file stays local from the moment you pick it to the moment you export. For the kind of paperwork that usually carries a signature, that is the difference that matters most.
One honest nuance about connectivity: the page and its processing engine load over the network, and the engine is fetched the first time you use the tool. After that, the processing itself runs on your device, and a dropped connection does not interrupt work in progress.
What you get, and the limits
The tool accepts PDF input and produces a PDF: your original document with the signature placed where you put it. The per-file ceiling is 100 MB.
When someone else needs to sign
Sign PDF covers self-signing: you create and place your own signature on a document you already have. When the signature you need is someone else's, use Request Signatures instead — it sends a document to others, tracks status, and collects audited e-signatures in order.
And when the document is a form as much as it is a contract, pair signing with Fill Forms, which completes a PDF's existing AcroForm fields — text, checkboxes, radio buttons, dropdowns, and lists — right in your browser. Fill the fields in Fill Forms and export the completed PDF, then open that file in Sign PDF to add your signature.
Common questions
Do I need an account to sign a PDF?
No account is needed. Open the Sign PDF tool, create a signature, place it, and export the signed file.
Does my PDF leave my device when I sign it?
No. Sign PDF runs entirely in your browser with WebAssembly and browser APIs, so the file stays on your device from start to finish.
Does Sign PDF work offline?
Not fully. The page and its processing engine load over the network, and the engine is fetched the first time you use the tool. After that, the processing runs entirely on your device, and a dropped connection does not interrupt work in progress.
How large can the PDF be?
Up to 100 MB per file.
Can I collect signatures from other people?
Sign PDF handles your own signature. To collect signatures from others, use the Request Signatures tool, which sends a document to recipients, tracks status, and collects audited e-signatures in order.