Free online PDF signer draws, types or uploads a signature and places it on a page preview, with size and angle set by hand. It adds an electronic signature, not a certificate.
Document format work by OnlinePCApps since 2013
Printing to sign and scanning back is slow. The online PDF signer adds a signature on screen so a document is ready to send in a minute.
An agreement lands in the inbox and needs a signature before end of day. Signing it on the page and sending it back skips the print, pen and scanner entirely.
A lease or an NDA asks for initials on every page and a date at the end. Typing JD in the Type mode and placing it on every page takes a few clicks rather than a full reprint.
A signed contract often holds financial terms or personal detail, the last thing to hand to a signing server. Signing on the device keeps the document and the signature where they are.
Drop a PDF up to 100 MB onto the online PDF signer panel above, or click to browse. A page preview draws in the panel, with Prev and Next to reach the page that needs the mark.
Draw with a mouse or finger, type a name in the script font or upload a PNG or JPG of a real signature. Click the spot on the preview, drag to position, then set Size and Angle.
Click Sign PDF, then Download signed PDF. The copy is named signed.pdf with the signature drawn onto the page, and the unsigned original is left untouched as a fallback.
To sign a PDF online is to place a signature on the page and record intent to agree. The online PDF signer covers the everyday self-signing case end to end.
Draw a signature with a mouse or finger for the closest match to paper, with four ink colors and an intensity slider. Type a name in the script font for speed, or upload a PNG or JPG of a real signature.
The page renders in the PDF signer panel. Click where the mark belongs, drag it into position, then set Size from 50 to 180 percent and Angle from -180 to 180 degrees. Prev and Next reach any page of the document.
The mark placed shows intent to agree, the electronic signature that ordinary contracts and forms run on. Initials, a date or a short line go on the same way: type them in the Type mode and place them in a second run.
The PDF signer draws the signature into the page when Sign PDF is clicked, so it reads as part of signed.pdf and cannot be dragged off. The unsigned original stays where it was, untouched.
To sign a PDF, to eSign a document and to add a signature to a PDF all name one step for the online PDF signer. The signed file is written new as signed.pdf, and the unsigned original is left as it stands.
Two different things are both called signing a PDF. Knowing which one a document needs before the online PDF signer runs saves a surprise later, and what a signed PDF proves covers the second kind.
| The term | Kind | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Electronic signature | this PDF signer | A drawn, typed or uploaded mark placed on the page to show intent to agree. It is what ordinary contracts and forms use. |
| Digital signature | a certificate | A cryptographic seal from a PKI certificate, a PFX or P12 file, binding identity to the exact bytes. It is a separate, stronger form the online PDF signer does not place. |
| Draw | mouse or touch | A signature drawn by hand on a trackpad or touchscreen, the closest match to signing on paper, in Slate, Blue, Black or Crimson ink at an intensity from 20 to 100 percent. |
| Type | a script font | A name typed and rendered in the fixed handwriting-style font at 12 to 72 px, the fastest way to a clean mark. Initials and a date go in the same way. |
| Upload | PNG or JPG | A photo or scan of a real signature, best saved as a PNG with a transparent background to reuse across documents. |
| Legal standing | ESIGN and eIDAS | An electronic signature from a PDF signer is binding for most business and personal documents under the US ESIGN Act, UETA and EU eIDAS. |
| When more is needed | check first | Some wills, notarized instruments and government filings still require a handwritten or certificate-based signature. |
| Placement | size and angle | One mark per run, sized from 50 to 180 percent and turned from -180 to 180 degrees, dropped where the preview is clicked and dragged. |
| Where it runs | on the device | The signing and the signature image both stay in the browser, so neither the document nor the mark is uploaded. |
An Electronic Signature, Not a Certificate
The online PDF signer places an electronic signature, a drawn, typed or uploaded mark that shows intent to agree. For the vast majority of everyday documents, a contract, an NDA, a lease or a form, it is binding under the US ESIGN Act and EU eIDAS. It is the same kind of signature the standard tier of the large services produces. A cryptographic digital signature is a different thing. It is a certificate from a trusted authority that mathematically seals the bytes and proves identity, and a handful of high-stakes filings ask for one. When a party or a regulator names a certificate-based signature, it is worth checking before relying on a drawn one. The frameworks below define both, and hashing vs encryption vs encoding explains the mathematics a certificate rests on.
Both the online PDF signer and a hosted eSign service add a signature to a PDF. The trade is real, and a document to sign is often a sensitive one.
| Point of comparison | This tool This PDF signer On the device | Hosted eSign Uploaded and signed on a server |
|---|---|---|
| Where the document goes | Never leaves the device | Uploaded to a server |
| Where the signature goes | Stays on the device | Held in an account |
| Request signatures from others | Self-sign only | Invite and route signers |
| Audit trail of the signing | Method and time only | Who signed, when and IP |
| Certificate digital signature | Electronic only | Certified tier available |
Three rows here favor the hosted services, since inviting other signers, a court-admissible audit trail and a certified digital signature all need a server behind them. The first two go the other way and matter most for a self-signed private document. Neither the file nor the signature leaves the machine, and the work is free with no daily or document cap that the hosted free tiers impose.
Signing here draws the signature onto the page inside the browser. The document, the signature image and any typed detail all stay on the machine that opened them. Nothing is sent out to be signed.
A hosted eSign service uploads the document to a server and often keeps the signature in an account. A document waiting for a signature tends to be a contract or a filing, exactly the kind of file best kept off anyone else's system.
Every PDF signer alternative here adds a signature to a document. They differ in cost, in reach and in what the signer can invite others to do.
Preview and the print route keep the document on the machine it sits on, while the hosted services carry it up to a server. The free online tool above signs on the device the same as those offline options.
A moment of checking before the online PDF signer runs keeps the signature valid and the file clean. Three checks cover the usual cases.
For most contracts and forms the electronic signature a PDF signer adds is binding and accepted. If a party or a regulator has asked for a certificate-based digital signature, that is a different form worth arranging first.
A signature drawn steadily, or a photo of a real one on white paper saved as a transparent PNG, reads far better on the page. The Draw panel tip says it plainly: make the signature a little larger than it needs to be.
The PDF signer places one mark per run on the page shown in the preview. Use Prev and Next to reach the signature page, click the exact spot and check the size before Sign PDF, since the next run starts from signed.pdf.
The online PDF signer signs one document per run, which suits the file in front of it. A folder of forms that all take the same signature, or a set headed out with the same initials and date, is work for the desktop edition, which reads from disk and signs every file in one run.
Point it at a directory and the same signature, initials and date land on every PDF in one run, every one saved beside its source.
A PFX or P12 certificate can apply a cryptographic digital signature in the desktop PDF signer, for filings that need one beyond a drawn mark.
A saved signature, initials and stamp set apply the same way to a large run, so a stack of documents comes out looking uniform.
Free, with no sign-up and no daily cap. The online PDF signer draws, types or uploads a signature and places it where the page preview is clicked.