How to Sign a PDF

First: get your signature as an image

Every method below starts with one file: a transparent PNG of your signature. Draw it with your mouse, finger or stylus, or type your name in a script font, and download it — it takes about a minute and it's free:

Method 1: Adobe Acrobat Reader (Windows & Mac, free)

Acrobat Reader is free, and its Fill & Sign tool is the standard way to sign a PDF without paying for anything:

1. Open the PDF in Acrobat Reader.
2. Click Fill & Sign in the toolbar (or find it under Tools).
3. Click the pen icon ("Sign") → Add signature. Acrobat offers to type, draw or import — choose Image, and select your PNG.
4. Click the document where the signature belongs. It appears as a stamp you can drag to move and resize by the corners — about two to three inches wide looks natural on a letter-sized page.
5. Save a copy. Reader will ask; keep the original unsigned PDF as your master copy.

Acrobat's own "draw your signature" option exists too, but drawing with a mouse produces a shaky line — importing the PNG you made in the generator looks noticeably more like you.

Method 2: Mac — Preview (the fastest option on a Mac)

Macs can capture your real signature with the trackpad, once, forever:

1. Open the PDF in Preview.
2. Click the Markup toolbar icon (the pen tip), then click Sign → Create Signature.
3. Choose Trackpad and sign with your finger. (There's also a camera method: sign a white paper and hold it up to the webcam.)
4. Click Save — from now on, the signature is one click away on any PDF you open, and you can drag it into place and resize it the same way.

If you'd rather use the PNG from our generator on a Mac, drag it into the PDF using the free Acrobat Reader method above — that works identically on macOS.

Method 3: Microsoft Edge (Windows, no install needed)

Edge can annotate PDFs without any extra software: open the PDF in Edge, click Draw in the toolbar, pick the pen, and sign directly on the page with a mouse, touchscreen or pen. It's fine for casual forms. Two honest caveats: drawing freehand with a mouse looks rough, and ink annotations in Edge are baked onto the page — nothing is movable afterward, so get it right in one go. On a touchscreen Windows laptop, this method is genuinely good.

What kind of signature does the document need?

Worth thirty seconds of thought, because "signed" means different things in different contexts:

• Everyday documents — forms, letters, invoices, school paperwork, permission slips: a placed signature image is standard practice and is what everyone means by "sign it and send it back".
• Contracts where identity matters — anything described as "legally binding", "certified", or requiring a witness: use a dedicated e-signature service (DocuSign, Adobe Sign, Dropbox Sign). Those record who signed and when, which an image cannot do.
• Government or court filings — follow the specific instructions on the form; some accept images, some demand a registered e-signature, and some still want ink.

We're not lawyers and this isn't legal advice — but the pattern above will steer you right in most situations. When a document asks for more than an image, give it more.

About free online PDF-signing websites

Search "sign PDF free" and you'll find dozens of sites that do the whole thing in your browser — with one catch worth knowing: most of them upload your document to their servers. For a birthday-card PDF, who cares. For a lease, a tax form or anything with an ID number on it, prefer the offline methods above (Acrobat Reader, Preview, Edge) — or at minimum, check whether the site deletes files after signing and whether it uses HTTPS. The generator + local editor combination in this guide keeps your documents and your signature entirely on your computer.