3 Ways to Electronically Sign PDFs

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Darlene Antonelli, MA. Darlene Antonelli is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. Darlene has experience teaching college courses, writing technology-related articles, and working hands-on in the technology field. She earned an MA in Writing from Rowan University in 2012 and wrote her thesis on online communities and the personalities curated in such communities.

This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources.

This article has been viewed 254,970 times.

Do you want to add your signature to a document, but don't want to print it out, then sign it, then scan it again? Luckily, you can add your signature digitally! But let's be clear: This is not a digital signature, which is also called a certificate-based signature, and is encrypted for extra security. However, you can add your signature to documents with electronic signatures practically anywhere! You can do this using the Adobe Reader program on both Windows and Mac computers, or you can use a Mac computer's built-in Preview app. If you want to sign a PDF on an iPhone or Android, Adobe's Fill & Sign app is a good choice. This wikiHow article teaches you how to add an electronic signature to a PDF document.

1. If you're on a smartphone or tablet, open "Adobe Fill & Sign," then go to "Fill & Sign > Create" and add your signature to a PDF.
2. If you're using a Windows or Mac computer, open Adobe Reader or Acrobat, then go to "Tools > Fill & Sign > Sign" and add your signature.
3. While you can electronically add a signature to any PDF, a digital signature requires a certificate to meet standards of security and authenticity.

Electronic Signatures or Digital Signatures

Electronic signatures (e-signatures) are more common than digital signatures. If you need to sign your name or initial a PDF document, you'll use an e-signature. [1] X Research source Electronic signatures are merely images of your signature that you can affix to almost anything, including emails, memos, thank-you letters, and more. They are not unique keys like digital signatures. [2] X Research source

A digital signature requires keys to assure authenticity. This is so the signature is provided by the person who claims to sign it and cannot be forged or added by someone else. Digital signatures also guarantee that the document has not been modified and is not a forgery. Each digital signature is unique to a document like a fingerprint, so a digital signature on Document A is not the same as the digital signature on Document B.

This wikiHow article will cover electronic signatures. To learn how to use a digital signature certificate instead, check out How to Use Electronic Signatures on Online Contracts and Add a Digital Signature in Word.

Using Adobe Fill & Sign on Mobile

iPhone — Open the

Open Adobe Fill & Sign. Tap OPEN in the App Store or Google Play Store, or tap the purple Fill & Sign app icon on your Home Screen (iPhone) or in the App Drawer (Android).

• On Android, tap From PDF File in this menu.

• Skip this step on Android.

Select your PDF. Go to the folder in which the PDF you want to sign is stored, then tap your PDF to select it. Doing so will open the PDF in Adobe Fill & Sign.

• You may first have to tap somewhere off of the tutorial window to close the tutorial.

Tap Done . It's in the top-right corner of the screen. Doing so saves your signature and applies it to the PDF.

Reposition your signature. Tap and drag your signature to the location in which you want to apply it.

• For example, if you wanted to send your PDF in an email, you would tap Share, tap your preferred email app, enter a recipient's email address, subject, and message, and tap Send.

• On Android, you'll just tap the "Back" button in the top-left corner of the screen to save your signature. [3] X Research source

Using Adobe Reader or Acrobat on Windows or Mac

• Go to https://get.adobe.com/reader/ in your computer's web browser.
• Uncheck any of the software in the "Optional offer" column.
• Click Install now or Download.
• Double-click the downloaded setup file.
• Follow the installation prompts.
• If you have Adobe Acrobat, you can use that application instead and follow the same steps to add your signature.

• Windows — Right-click the PDF you want to sign, select Open with, and click Adobe Acrobat Reader/Acrobat DC.
• Mac — Click the PDF you want to sign, click File, select Open With, and click Adobe Acrobat Reader/Acrobat DC.

Click Sign . You'll see this option on the upper-right side of the page. A drop-down menu will appear.

Select a place for your signature. Find the place in which you want to print your signature, then click the place to stamp your signature there. You should see the signature appear on your PDF. [5] X Research source

Save the signed version of your document. Press Ctrl + S (Windows) or ⌘ Command + S (Mac) to bring up the "Save As" window, then select a save location and change the name (if necessary) before clicking Save.

Using Preview on Mac

• Click the PDF to select it.
• Click File in the menu bar.
• Select Open With in the File drop-down menu.
• Click Preview in the pop-out menu.

Click the "Show Markup" icon. This icon looks like the tip of a pen inside a circle, and is located next to the search bar. A toolbar will appear near the top of the Preview window.

• If you're using an iMac, you'll instead select the Camera tab.
• If you have existing signatures, first click Create Signature at the bottom of the drop-down menu to make a new one (or select your signature and then skip the next two steps).

• If you're using the webcam on an iMac, you'll write your signature on a blank piece of paper and then take a picture of it using the camera.

icon, then click your signature. You can then drag it to the location in which you want to apply your signature.

Expert Q&A

If you want to add a digital signature, or certificate-based signature, with Acrobat or Reader, you'll need to get a digital ID. Many times, if you're signing a document from a government agency or a corporation, you'll be provided with a digital ID to use. If you aren't offered one, get in touch with that corporation or government agency for one, or buy one from Adobe. You can add your signature to the document using your certificate-based signature in the same way you add a normal signature. [6] X Research source

You can also sign online for free. For example, if you're using a Chromebook, those applications won't work for you. There are services like DocuSign and HelloSign that work in a web browser so you can sign a limited number of PDFs for free!

You Might Also Like

3 Easy Ways to Insert a Picture Into a PDF File

How to Convert a DWG File to a PDF

How to Compress a PDF File: 4 Easy Tricks on PC & Mac

4 Ways to Create PDF Files

How to Copy a Table from a PDF to Excel

3 Easy Ways to Attach a File to a PDF

5 Easy Ways to Save and Download a PDF File