Sign PDF Online — Free Digital Signatures

Sign PDF adds a visible signature to a document for routine approvals, forms, acknowledgements, and internal paperwork. It is built for quick visual signing, not for replacing regulated identity-verification services.

What happens in the browser

Your typed, drawn, or uploaded signature is converted into a graphic overlay and placed onto the selected PDF page. The downloaded PDF contains the visible signature at the chosen coordinates.

Step-by-step workflow

  1. Open the PDF you need to sign.
  2. Create a signature by drawing, typing, or uploading an image.
  3. Place and resize the signature on the correct page.
  4. Add a date or initials if the document requires them.
  5. Download the signed copy and review it before sending.

When this tool is useful

  • Signing simple forms, approvals, and acknowledgements.
  • Adding initials to routine paperwork.
  • Returning internal documents that do not require identity verification.
  • Combining with Flatten PDF before sharing.

Limitations to know before downloading

  • A visual signature is not the same as a cryptographic digital certificate.
  • Some legal or regulated documents require dedicated e-signature platforms.
  • Recipients may ask for audit trails that this browser tool does not provide.

Privacy and file handling

The signature and document are processed locally. Signature images are not uploaded or stored by the site.

Signing a PDF in the browser — the practical guide

Most people who need to sign a PDF are not lawyers negotiating a cross-border contract. They are freelancers returning an NDA, tenants confirming a lease addendum, or parents signing a school permission slip. This tool is built for exactly that: put a real-looking signature on the page, add a date, and get the file back — without installing anything, without creating an account, and without ever uploading the document to a stranger's server.

What actually happens when you sign here

When you draw or type a signature, we render it to a transparent PNG inside your browser and embed it as an image XObject on the page you chose, using pdf-lib. Nothing is streamed anywhere. The saved PDF is a normal PDF — Adobe Reader, Preview, Foxit and every browser viewer treat it as native content, not as a foreign annotation that can be stripped.

Step-by-step

  1. Drop the PDF onto the drop zone or click to browse.
  2. Draw with a mouse, trackpad, or finger; or type a name and pick a handwritten-style font.
  3. Drag the signature onto the correct spot. Add a date field next to it if the form requires one.
  4. Repeat on any other pages that need signing.
  5. Click Download. The signed PDF saves to your device.

Is this legally valid?

In the US (ESIGN Act, 2000) and the EU (eIDAS, Simple Electronic Signature tier), a drawn or typed signature applied with clear intent is a valid electronic signature for most commercial and personal agreements. High-value regulated documents — real estate transfers in some jurisdictions, notarised affidavits, some healthcare consents — require a Qualified Electronic Signature with a cryptographic identity certificate. That is a different product category and we do not claim to provide it.

Common mistakes we see

  • Signing before the PDF preview fully rendered — the signature lands slightly off. Wait until the page thumbnail is sharp.
  • Using a stylus at 200% zoom, then dragging the signature at 100% — the size shifts. Place at the same zoom level you signed.
  • Forgetting to flatten. If the recipient can open the file in a PDF editor and delete your signature, run the result through Flatten PDF first.