How to sign a PDF without printing it
Last updated 26 September 2026
Print, sign, scan, email: four steps and a printer for one line of ink. You can sign the PDF itself in about a minute, and here the document stays on your own computer the whole time.
Sign it
- Open Sign PDF and drop the document.
- Scroll to the page with the signature line. Draw signature is already chosen.
- Draw your name. A finger on a phone or a pen on a tablet looks more natural than a mouse. You can clear it and try again.
- To use a photo of your real signature instead, press Upload signature and choose the photo. Sign on white paper and take the photo in good light. Drag it onto the line and pull its corner to size it.
- Add the date and your printed name with Text.
- Press Save the PDF.
If the document has boxes to fill in
Many forms have real fields: boxes you can click and type in. Fill them first with PDF Forms, then sign the saved copy. If you want nobody to change your answers afterwards, run it through Flatten PDF: the answers stay on the page, but they are no longer boxes anyone can edit.
Before you send it
A signed contract often holds your address, your ID number and your bank details. If it goes by email, you can add a password with Protect PDF, and give the password to the other person by phone or text message, not in the same email.
Is a drawn signature legally valid?
For almost all everyday paperwork - a lease, a delivery note, a school form, an offer letter - a drawn signature is exactly what is asked for. It is what a scan would give after signing on paper.
It is not a certified digital signature. If somebody asks specifically for a qualified or certified electronic signature, they mean a certificate issued by an authority, which needs an identity check and usually a paid service. No drawing tool can give you that, and this one does not pretend to.