How to sign a PDF online, without printing it
Short answer: You do not need to print, sign and scan. Open the PDF in an online editor, draw your signature with a mouse or finger (or type or upload it), place it on the page, add the date, and save. This kind of electronic signature is accepted for most everyday agreements in the UK, EU and US, though some documents, such as wills and deeds, have stricter rules.
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How to sign a PDF, step by step
- Open Edit & Sign PDF and add your document. It opens in the page, ready to work on.
- Choose Sign. Draw your signature with a mouse, trackpad, finger or stylus; type your name in a script style; or upload a photo of your handwritten signature.
- Click where the signature should go, and drag its corners to size it.
- Choose Date to stamp today's date beside it, in the format the document expects.
- Fill in anything else — tick boxes, your printed name, initials on other pages.
- Save, and download the signed PDF.
Nothing is flattened into a picture. The text you did not touch stays selectable and searchable, and a drawn signature goes in as vector lines, so it stays crisp when printed.
Getting a signature that looks right
- On a laptop, a trackpad gives a smoother line than a mouse; on a phone or tablet, a finger or stylus works best of all.
- To use your real handwritten signature, sign in dark ink on plain white paper, photograph it in good light, and upload the photo.
- Sign a little larger than the space, then shrink it to fit — small, cramped strokes look shaky.
- The editor can remember signatures on your device, so you do not need to redraw it next time. It is stored in your browser, not on our servers.
Electronic signatures and digital signatures are different things
A signature drawn, typed or pasted onto a PDF is an electronic signature: a mark on the document that shows your intention to sign. It is what the overwhelming majority of everyday documents need — tenancy agreements, consent forms, delivery notes, freelance contracts, school trips.
A digital signature is something else: a cryptographic seal made with a certificate issued to you, which proves who signed and shows whether the document was altered afterwards. Some regulated processes require one, and they need specialist signing software and a certificate. ConvertNicely places electronic signatures; it does not issue certificates.
Is an electronic signature legally valid?
For most purposes, yes. In the UK, electronic signatures are recognised by the Electronic Communications Act 2000 and case law; in the EU, the eIDAS Regulation says an electronic signature cannot be refused as evidence simply because it is electronic; in the US, the ESIGN Act and UETA give them the same standing as handwritten ones for most transactions.
The exceptions are the documents where the law asks for more: wills, some property deeds, and certain court and official forms often need a wet signature, a witness or a qualified digital signature. If you are unsure about a particular document, ask whoever you are sending it to what they accept. This is general information, not legal advice.
After signing
If the signed document is confidential, add a password to it before emailing it, and send the password by a different route — a text message or a phone call. If several people each signed a separate copy, merge the signed pages into one document for your records.