How to sign a PDF without printing it

You can sign a PDF without printing by opening it at pdfviewer.work, clicking Signature, drawing your signature with a mouse, trackpad or finger, and placing it on the signature line. Download gives you a signed copy to email back. The document never leaves your browser.

Sign a PDF without printing: the steps

1. Open the PDF. Drop it on the page or click Open a PDF. The sign tool page works the same way.
2. Find the signature line. Use the page thumbnails on the left to jump to the right page of a long contract.
3. Click Signature and draw your signature in the pad: with a mouse on a desktop, with the trackpad on a laptop, or with a finger or stylus on a touchscreen.
4. Place it. Click on the page where the signature belongs. If it lands in the wrong spot, pick Eraser, click the signature to remove it, and place it again.
5. Add the date and your printed name with Text if the form has lines for them.
6. Click Download. The signed PDF is a new file; attach it to your reply.

The whole thing takes under a minute, and the only hardware involved is the device you are reading the email on.

What kind of signature this is, and when it is not enough

The viewer places a drawn image of your signature on the page. That is the electronic equivalent of pen on paper, and it is what most leases, permission slips, offer letters and vendor forms are asking for. It is not a certificate-based digital signature: no cryptographic identity is attached, and no validation panel will appear when the file is opened in Acrobat.

If the sender requires a certificate (some government filings, some banks, anything that says "digital ID required"), use Adobe Acrobat's Certificates tool or the signing service the sender names, such as DocuSign. If they only need your signature on the line, the drawn image does the job. The PDF annotations page explains what gets written into the file.

Built-in ways to sign on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android

Online services such as Smallpdf and iLovePDF also sign PDFs, but they upload the document to their servers first. For a contract with personal data, a tool that keeps the file on your device is the safer default; see the privacy page for how the viewer handles files.

Signing a multi-page contract: initials, dates and copies

Many agreements want initials on every page as well as a signature at the end. Use the Signature tool for the initials too: draw them in the pad and place them on each page that needs them, moving through the document with the thumbnail sidebar. Type the date next to each with Text, and tick any "I agree" boxes with a short stroke from Draw.

Before you send it, scroll the whole file once at a readable zoom to check that nothing landed on the wrong line, then click Download. Keep that downloaded copy; it is your signed record. If the other party needs paper as well, click Print and the browser's print dialog takes it from there.

Signing on a phone works the same way in the browser, but a long contract made of scanned pages is heavy for a phone's memory. For anything beyond a few dozen scanned pages, use a laptop or a tablet.

Troubleshooting a signature that will not go on

• The file asks for a password. The viewer reports "This PDF is password-protected" and stops. Remove the open password first; the password guide lists the honest ways.
• The form has a signature field that does nothing. Form fields are displayed but not interactive in the viewer. Draw the signature on top of the field instead; it looks the same when printed or emailed.
• The PDF blocks editing. Click Remove Restrictions. It strips owner-password locks on printing, copying and editing from any file that opens normally.
• The signature looks shaky. Draw slowly, and on a trackpad use one finger. Undo with Ctrl+Z and try again until it looks like you.

Frequently asked questions