You receive a contract in your inbox. You need to sign it and send it back. The old way: print it, sign it with a pen, scan it, and email the attachment back — assuming you have a printer and scanner handy, which increasingly people do not. The whole process can take 10 to 15 minutes and relies on hardware most people use only occasionally.
The digital alternative takes about 30 seconds, produces a cleaner result, and works on any device. You do not need to install anything or create an account. Open the tool in your browser, upload the PDF, add your signature, and download the signed file. That is it.
Three ways to create your signature
Filero's Sign PDF tool gives you three methods for adding a signature. Each suits a different situation:
- Draw — use your mouse, trackpad, or finger to draw your signature directly in the browser. On a phone or tablet this is the most natural option — drawing with your finger on a touchscreen produces something that genuinely resembles your real signature. On a desktop with a mouse, draw slowly and deliberately; fast movements tend to produce jerky lines. A trackpad is often easier than a mouse for drawing smooth curves.
- Type — type your name and select from a set of handwriting-style fonts. This is the fastest option and produces a clean, consistent result. It is particularly useful when you need to sign many documents quickly and consistency matters more than personalisation. Typed signatures are widely accepted as legally valid electronic signatures.
- Upload — upload an image file of your existing handwritten signature. This gives you the most control over the final appearance, since you can create it with a stylus on a drawing tablet, or on paper and then photograph it. For the best result, save the image as a PNG with a transparent background so the signature sits directly on the document page without a white rectangle behind it.
How to sign a PDF online for free
- Open the Sign PDF tool.
- Upload your PDF by clicking or dragging it onto the page.
- Choose how you want to create your signature: Draw, Type, or Upload.
- Create or capture your signature using the selected method.
- Click anywhere on the PDF page to place your signature at that location.
- Drag the signature to precisely position it, and use the resize handles to adjust the size.
- If you need to sign multiple pages, navigate to each page and place the signature there as well.
- Click Save and download your signed PDF.
Once saved, your signature is permanently embedded in the PDF as part of the page — not a floating overlay or a separate layer. It looks correct in every PDF viewer and prints correctly on every printer.
Placing and adjusting your signature
After you create your signature, clicking anywhere on the PDF page places it at that position. From there you have full control over its exact placement. Drag it by clicking and holding to move it to the precise spot — the signature line in a contract, the box at the bottom of a form, or wherever the document requires it.
Use the resize handles at the corners to make the signature larger or smaller. Most signature fields in contracts expect a signature roughly 2 to 4 centimetres wide — resize until it looks proportional to the surrounding text and the signature line it sits on. If the document has a rotation requirement (rare, but some forms have angled signature fields), a rotation handle lets you angle the signature to match.
You can place the same signature on multiple pages. Navigate to each page that needs signing and click to place it. This is common for multi-page contracts that require initials on each page — you can create a smaller version of your signature and place it in the initials field throughout the document.
Is an electronic signature legally valid?
For the vast majority of everyday documents, yes. Electronic signatures have been legally recognised in major jurisdictions for over two decades. In the United States, the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN Act, 2000) gives electronic signatures the same legal standing as handwritten ones. In the European Union, the eIDAS Regulation covers electronic signatures, with the Simple Electronic Signature level applying to most everyday business agreements. In Australia and New Zealand, the Electronic Transactions Act gives electronic signatures the same legal effect as wet signatures for nearly all contract types.
There are categories of documents where an electronic signature is not sufficient and a certified or witnessed signature is required: wills, property transfer deeds, certain court filings, and documents requiring a notary or commissioner of oaths. These represent a small fraction of the documents most people ever sign. For employment contracts, NDAs, service agreements, purchase orders, consent forms, and the overwhelming majority of business paperwork, an electronic signature is legally valid. If you are ever uncertain about a specific document, a quick check with a legal professional will confirm what is required.
Tips for a professional-looking signature
- Drawing on desktop — draw slowly. The smoother your hand movement, the smoother the resulting line. Use a large drawing area and sign with a broad gesture rather than cramped, small strokes.
- Drawing on mobile — hold your phone in landscape mode for a wider canvas. A soft stylus gives more control, but your fingertip works fine for most purposes.
- Uploading a signature image — always use a PNG with a transparent background. In most image editors — including free tools like GIMP or the online tool remove.bg — you can remove the white background. A JPEG will leave a white rectangle behind the signature that covers the underlying document text.
- Sizing — resize the signature so it fits naturally in the signature field. Too large looks unprofessional; too small can appear as though you were trying to minimise it. Match the height of the signature roughly to the height of the text on the nearby signature line.
- Check before saving — zoom in on the placement before clicking Save. It is much easier to adjust position and size now than to redo the whole process after downloading.
Adding text and date stamps alongside your signature
Many documents require more than just a signature — they also need a printed name, a date, a job title, or other text filled in. The Sign PDF tool includes a text placement feature that lets you add typed text anywhere on the document, not just at a designated signature field.
This is useful for entering your name in print form next to a signature, adding the date you signed, entering a company name, or completing any other fields that require text input. You can place text freely on any part of the page, adjust the font size, and position them precisely. If you regularly need to both sign and fill in details on forms, this saves you the extra step of editing the document separately before signing.
Frequently asked questions
Can I sign a PDF on my phone?
Yes. The Sign PDF tool is fully functional on mobile browsers — both Safari on iPhone and Chrome on Android. The Draw option works with touch input, so you can sign with your finger directly on the screen. On a phone, the touch-drawing experience is often better than using a mouse on a desktop, because finger movements naturally produce something that resembles a real signature. No app download is needed; just open the tool in your mobile browser.
Can I sign multiple pages?
Yes. After placing your signature on one page, navigate to any other page that needs signing and place the signature there as well. You can add the signature as many times as needed, on as many pages as the document requires. Some people create a smaller signature for initials and a larger one for the main signature field — each placement can be resized independently.
Does signing a PDF change the file size?
Slightly — adding a signature embeds a small image into the PDF, which increases the file size by a few kilobytes to perhaps a few hundred kilobytes depending on how large the signature image is. In practical terms, the difference is negligible for most documents. If you are working with a file that is already large and needs to stay under a size limit, run the signed PDF through Compress PDF afterwards to bring the size down.
What is the difference between a digital signature and an electronic signature?
These terms are often used interchangeably, but they refer to different things. An electronic signature is any digital representation of your intent to sign — drawing your name, typing it, clicking an "I agree" button, or uploading a signature image. A digital signature is a specific technical mechanism that uses cryptographic keys to verify the signer's identity and detect any changes to the document after signing. Digital signatures require a certificate from a trusted authority and are used for high-assurance scenarios like legal filings, government documents, and financial transactions. For everyday contracts and agreements, an electronic signature is sufficient and legally valid.
Can I save my signature to reuse it later?
The Sign PDF tool does not store signatures between sessions — your signature exists only while you are using the tool and is never saved to any server. If you want to reuse a signature across multiple documents, the easiest approach is to save it as a PNG file on your own device after creating it. Next time you need to sign a document, use the Upload option and select your saved signature image. This gives you a consistent result every time without needing to redraw it. Keep the PNG with a transparent background for the cleanest appearance on the page.
Is a typed signature just as legally valid as a drawn one?
Yes, for the vast majority of everyday documents. Under electronic signature laws in the US, EU, Australia, and most other jurisdictions, what matters legally is that the signature represents your intent to be bound by the document — not whether it looks like a handwritten mark. A typed name in a handwriting-style font carries exactly the same legal weight as a drawn signature, provided the other requirements of a valid contract are met. The only situations where the form of signature matters more are those requiring notarisation, witnessing, or a qualified digital certificate — and those are specifically excluded from standard electronic signature laws in most countries.
Ready to try it?
Use Filero's free Sign PDF tool. No account needed, works on any device.
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