Secure & archive · guide
What Sign PDF does
Sign PDF places your signature on a PDF: draw it with a mouse or a finger, type it, or use a photo of it, then move, resize and angle it on the page, and add your initials or today's date beside it. It is a visual signature, an image or text placed on the page, not a certificate-backed digital signature. The document and your signature stay in your browser and are never uploaded.
How to sign a PDF and add your signature
- Choose one PDF Select the document you need to sign. It opens in this browser tab, on your device.
- Create and place your signature Open Sign, then draw, type or upload your signature and click the page where it belongs. Drag it into position and use the size and angle controls to fit the signature line; move to another page to sign there too.
- Save the signed copy Select Save signed PDF and check the signature sits where you placed it. The signed copy is a new file with -signed added to its name; your original is unchanged.
Worked example
Place a visible signature mark on a form.
- Starting point
- Choose the PDF and identify the signature area before drawing, typing or importing your own mark.
- What to do
- Position and resize the mark so it fits the line. Review it at reading size before exporting.
- Result
- Expect a PDF with a visible signature mark. Reopen it to check placement and any date you added.
If the result is not right
If the mark is distorted, preserve its proportions while resizing. If the recipient requires verified digital signing, use a signing service that meets those requirements.
Limits worth knowing
- A placed mark is not a certificate-backed digital signature, identity verification or trusted timestamp.
Questions and answers
Is a signature added with Sign PDF legally binding?
That depends on who asked you to sign and what for, and Filozy cannot decide it for them. What the tool does is place your mark on the page as an image or text. It is not a certificate-backed digital signature, so the file carries nothing that proves who signed or that it was not changed afterwards. If the request says it needs a digital, certificate-based or qualified electronic signature, use a service that provides one; if you are unsure, ask whoever sent the document.
Can I sign with my finger, or use a photo of my signature on paper?
Both. The drawing pad takes a finger, stylus or mouse, and Larger drawing area gives you more room on a phone. For a photo, use Or upload one: the paper is removed on your device so that only the ink is placed, not a white box over the page, and a PNG that is already transparent is used as it is. PNG, JPG and WebP images all work.
How do I add my initials and the date?
Type your name in the Sign menu: Place initials makes a mark from its first letters, up to four, and Place the date writes today's date in your device's date format. With a signature selected, Add initials and Add date put them beside it; Add date writes a longer form of the date, usually with the month as a word, in your device's language. The next answer explains which languages cannot be saved. Each mark goes on the page you are viewing, so for initials on every page, go through the pages one by one.
Why can't I type my signature in my own alphabet?
Typed signatures, initials and dates are saved in Helvetica, a font that covers English and Western European letters (é, ü and ñ are fine) but not Cyrillic, Greek, Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Arabic, or Latin letters such as ł, ř, ş, ő and č. The preview shows what you typed, but the saved PDF has a question mark in place of every character the font lacks, and no warning appears, so look at the saved copy. A date follows your device's language: Place the date fails on a device set to a language with its own digits, such as Arabic or Persian, and Add date, which usually writes the month as a word, fails in more languages, including Russian, Greek and Chinese. Draw your signature or upload a photo of it instead: both are placed as an image, so any script works, and they look like your own hand.
The PDF already has a digital signature. Can I add mine?
You can place yours, but the signed copy is written as a new file, so a certificate signature already in it will no longer verify in that copy. If the document has to keep someone else's digital signature intact, ask the sender how they want you to sign before you send back a copy signed here.
Is my signature saved anywhere after I leave?
No. It exists only in this tab while you work: it is not stored in an account, in your browser's storage or on Filozy's servers, and it is written into the PDF only when you save. Next time you draw or upload it again, so if you sign often, keep a photo or a transparent PNG of it on your own device.