Sign PDF
Draw, type, or upload your signature and place it anywhere in the PDF — right in your browser. Your document is never uploaded.
Nothing Is Uploaded
The document you sign is usually the most sensitive one you have. Here it never leaves your device — pages render and the signature is applied entirely in your browser.
Draw, Type, or Upload
Draw your signature with a mouse, finger, or stylus; type your name in a handwriting style; or upload a photo of your real signature.
Any Page, Any Spot
Drag your signature anywhere, resize it with the corner handles, and place it on as many pages as you need. Add a date or a text note too.
Free, No Account
No registration wall, no trial that expires, no hourly quota. Open the page, sign your PDF, download — that's the whole process.
TL;DR: Sign a PDF for free without uploading it anywhere: create your signature (draw, type, or upload), drag it onto the page, add a date if you need one, and download the signed file. No account, no watermark, no limits.
Why Sign a PDF in Your Browser Instead of Uploading It?
Think about what you actually sign: contracts, job offers, leases, medical forms, tax documents. These are the most sensitive files most people handle all year — and the standard advice is to upload them to a stranger's server to add a signature. Adobe's online tool is free but requires an Adobe account before you can download your file. Smallpdf puts signing behind a 7-day trial. PDF Candy asks you to log in and limits free tasks per hour. iLovePDF, Sejda and PDF24 process your document on their servers and delete it after one to two hours.
This tool removes the trip entirely. The PDF opens in your browser, the pages are rendered on your device, and your signature is stamped into the file by code running locally. There is no upload, no account, and nothing for anyone to delete — because nothing was ever sent. You can even load the page, go offline, and sign a PDF with no connection at all.
What Happens When You Sign a PDF Online?
An electronic signature is any electronic mark — drawn, typed, or uploaded as an image — that shows a person's intent to sign a document. Adding one to a PDF stamps the signature onto the page and flattens it into the file itself.
It replaces the old ritual of printing the document, signing it with a pen, scanning it, and emailing the scan back. The result is the same — a document carrying your signature — minus the printer, the scanner, and the twenty minutes. Once you download the signed file, the signature is part of the page, exactly like ink on paper would be after scanning.
Electronic Signature vs Digital Signature: Know the Difference
The two terms get mixed up constantly, and the difference matters when you decide which kind of document to sign here:
A visible mark that shows intent
A drawn, typed, or uploaded image of your signature placed on the page. It looks like a signature and expresses your intent to sign — the same role a pen plays on paper. This is what nearly all everyday "sign a PDF" tasks need.
A cryptographic certificate
A certificate-based signature uses encryption and a verified identity to prove who signed and that the document hasn't changed since. It's invisible ink plus a tamper-proof seal — required in some regulated and high-stakes contexts, and it needs a certificate authority, which no purely in-browser tool can provide.
In many jurisdictions, simple electronic signatures are legally recognized for everyday documents — the U.S. ESIGN Act and UETA, and the EU's eIDAS regulation (at its "simple" level), all acknowledge them. Some document types are commonly excluded, such as wills and certain real-estate deeds, and requirements vary by country and by what the receiving party accepts.
This page is general information, not legal advice. For high-stakes or regulated documents, use a certificate-based signing service or consult a professional.
Sign a PDF Without Uploading It Anywhere
Every upload-based signing tool asks you to trust two promises: that your contract is handled safely on their servers, and that it really gets deleted afterwards — "after 1 hour" (PDF24, Smallpdf), "after 2 hours" (Sejda, iLovePDF). Even when those promises are kept, your lease or job offer still travelled to a third party, and with some tools you had to create an account to get it back.
Here the document and the signature both stay on your device. The pages you see are rendered locally, the signature image is created locally, and the signed PDF is assembled locally before being saved to your downloads folder. If you tick "save signature", it goes into your browser's local storage on this device — never to a server. Turn off your internet connection and everything keeps working; that's the easiest way to verify the claim.
How to Sign a PDF in 4 Steps
- 1
Open your PDF
Drag and drop the file onto the tool above, or click to browse. The pages are rendered in your browser — the document is never sent over the network.
- 2
Create your signature
Click "Add signature" and draw it with your mouse, finger, or stylus; type your name and pick a handwriting style; or upload a photo of your signature. Optionally save it in this browser so it's ready next time.
- 3
Place and adjust
Your signature lands on the page as a movable element. Drag it into position, resize it with the corner handles, and repeat on as many pages as you need. Add a date stamp or a short text note from the toolbar.
- 4
Download the signed PDF
Click "Sign & Download PDF". The signature is flattened into a new file on your device — the original stays untouched.
Three Ways to Create Your Signature
Different situations call for different signatures. All three methods produce a clean, transparent signature you can place and reuse:
Draw it
Sign with your mouse, trackpad, finger, or a stylus — on a touchscreen or tablet this feels closest to signing on paper. Pick a pen color and thickness, and redo it until it looks right.
Best when the document should carry your real handwriting.
Type it
Type your name and choose a handwriting-style font. It takes five seconds and always looks tidy — no shaky mouse lines.
Best for quick approvals, initials, and form-style documents.
Upload it
Already have your signature as an image — signed on paper and photographed, or exported from another app? Upload the PNG or JPG and place it. A transparent PNG blends into the page seamlessly.
Best when you want your exact pen-on-paper signature every time.
What People Sign Here
If it arrives as a PDF and needs your signature back, this is the fast path:
Contracts and agreements
Freelance contracts, NDAs, service agreements — sign the signature page and email the file back in a minute, without the document touching a third-party server.
Leases and rental forms
Landlords send PDFs; tenants print them. Skip the printer: sign on screen, add the date next to your name, done.
Job offers and HR paperwork
Offer letters, onboarding forms, policy acknowledgements — the documents you least want sitting on someone else's server.
School and consent forms
Permission slips and applications, signed on your phone in the time it takes to find a pen.
Quotes and invoices
Countersign a quote to confirm the order, or initial each page of terms — placing the same saved signature on multiple pages takes seconds.
Signing on your phone
The whole tool works on a touchscreen: draw your signature with a finger, drag it into place, and download — no app installation.
Browser-Based vs Upload-Based Signing Tools
Every tool that can sign a PDF works either on a company's server or on your own device. For the most sensitive files you handle, the difference is worth a close look:
| Aspect | This tool (in your browser) | Typical online tools (upload) |
|---|---|---|
| Where your file goes | Never leaves your device | Uploaded to a server |
| Who can see your signature | Only you — created and stored locally | Passes through the provider's servers |
| Data retention | None — nothing was ever sent | Deleted "after 1–2 hours" |
| Account required | No | Often — Adobe requires one; others gate downloads |
| Free usage limits | None | Trials, hourly quotas, daily caps |
| Watermark on output | Never | Sometimes on free tiers |
| Works offline | Yes, once the page is loaded | No |
One honest caveat: if you need several people to sign in sequence, with reminders and an audit trail, that's a workflow product — DocuSign and similar services exist for a reason, and a browser tool doesn't replace them. But for the everyday case — a PDF arrives, it needs your signature, you send it back — uploading the document adds risk without adding anything else.
Complete PDF Tool Suite
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Watermark PDF
Add a text watermark to PDF with live preview
HEIC to JPG
Convert iPhone HEIC photos to JPG
Delete PDF Pages
Remove unwanted pages and download a clean PDF
Extract PDF Pages
Save selected pages as a new PDF or separate files
Sign PDF
Draw, type, or upload a signature and place it on any page
Resize PDF
Change page size to A4, Letter, or custom dimensions
Crop PDF
Trim margins, drag-select, or auto-crop white space
Flatten PDF
Make forms read-only — keep text searchable or lock to image
PDF Metadata
View, edit, or strip author, title, dates and other metadata
Grayscale PDF
Convert to grayscale or black & white to save colour ink
Extract Images from PDF
Pull embedded photos out of a PDF and save as PNG or JPG
WebP to PDF
Convert WebP images to a PDF, merge many into one file
Protect PDF
Add an open password to your PDF, entirely in your browser
Unlock PDF
Remove a known password or restrictions from a PDF, in your browser
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything people ask about signing a PDF online
Is it safe to sign a PDF online?
With this tool, the PDF and your signature never leave your device. Everything — rendering the pages, drawing the signature, building the signed file — happens in JavaScript inside your browser tab. There is no server copy and no retention window. You can disconnect from the internet after the page loads and finish signing offline.
Is a signature added this way legally binding?
Often yes for everyday documents, but it depends on the jurisdiction and the document. Laws like the U.S. ESIGN Act and the EU's eIDAS regulation recognize simple electronic signatures for many common agreements. This tool adds an image-based electronic signature, not a certificate-based digital signature, and some documents (wills, certain deeds) are commonly excluded. This isn't legal advice — for high-stakes documents, use a certificate-based service or ask a professional.
How do I sign a PDF without Adobe Acrobat?
Right here — a browser is all you need. Adobe's online signing tool is free but requires an Adobe account before you can download the signed file. This tool runs the entire process on your device with no account, on Windows, Mac, Linux, or your phone.
How do I sign a PDF without printing and scanning it?
Create your signature on screen and place it digitally. Draw it with your mouse or finger, or type your name in a handwriting style. The signature is stamped straight into the PDF — same result as the print-sign-scan routine, without the printer or the scanner.
Can I sign on multiple pages?
Yes — place your signature on as many pages as you need. Create the signature once, then add it to any page from the toolbar or your saved signatures. Pages that already have elements are marked with a dot in the page strip, so you can see your progress at a glance.
Where is my signature stored?
Only in your browser's local storage, on this device. If you tick "save signature", it is kept locally so it's ready next time — it is never uploaded. You can delete saved signatures at any time from the signature dialog, and using a private browsing window leaves nothing behind at all.
Can I send the PDF to someone else to sign?
This tool is for signing documents yourself. There's no invitation or tracking workflow — that requires accounts and a server, which is exactly what this tool avoids. The other party can simply open this same free page and sign their copy; if you need reminders, signing order, and an audit trail, a dedicated e-signing service is the right tool.
What's the best image format for an uploaded signature?
A PNG with a transparent background. Transparent PNGs blend into the page like real ink. A JPG works too, but its white background stays visible as a box. Tip: photograph your signature on white paper in good light, then increase the contrast before uploading.
Related PDF Tools
Signing is often the last step. These tools run in your browser too:
- Edit PDF — fill in fields and annotate before signing
- Watermark PDF — stamp a text watermark across pages
- Merge PDF — combine the signed file with other documents
- Compress PDF — shrink the signed PDF before emailing
- Delete PDF Pages — drop pages you don't need to send
Ready to Sign Your PDF?
Free, private, and instant — draw, type, or upload your signature and download the signed file without your document ever leaving your device.
Sign a PDF Now