How to create a signature image and add it to a PDF
Contracts, consent forms and applications often arrive as PDFs that just need your signature. Instead of printing, signing and scanning, you can create a signature image once and place it straight onto the PDF. Here is the whole process.
Step 1: create your signature
The Signature Maker gives you two options.
- Draw it: sign with a mouse, a touchpad, or your finger on a phone. Pick pen width and color, and undo strokes you do not like.
- Type it: enter your name and choose a handwriting-style font. It looks neat, but it is not your real handwriting.
Download it as a PNG with a transparent background, so no white box shows up on the document.
On a phone, turning the screen sideways gives you a wider pad and a more natural signature.
Step 2 (optional): a name seal
In Korea, East Asian countries and some business settings, documents use a name seal (a stamp with the signer's name) instead of a signature. The Stamp Maker creates a seal-style image in a round, square or oval shape as a transparent PNG.
This image is only a visual mark. It is not a registered seal and has no legal standing on its own, so check whether the recipient accepts image signatures or seals.
Step 3: place the signature on the PDF
- Open the PDF in the PDF Editor.
- Go to the page to sign and add your PNG with the image or signature option.
- Drag it onto the signature line and resize it.
- Add the date or your printed name as text if needed.
- Save the edited PDF.
The signature is drawn on top of the original page, so the document text stays sharp.
Things to watch out for
- Protect your signature file: anyone with the PNG can paste it anywhere. Do not leave it on shared computers.
- Covering is not deleting: the white box in the PDF Editor only hides content visually. The text underneath stays in the file, so do not use it to remove personal data.
- Not a verified e-signature: this adds the look of a signature. Contracts that require identity verification need the e-signature service the other party specifies.