Guide
How to sign a PDF without printing it
Open the PDF in Anyfile’s PDF editor, choose Sign, draw or type your signature (or use a photo of it), click where it goes and download the signed PDF. There’s no printing, no scanning and no account, and the document never leaves your device.
Step by step
Open the PDF
Go to the PDF editor, drop the PDF on the page and choose Edit file. A password-protected PDF asks for its password, which stays on your device.
Choose Sign
Click Sign in the toolbar, or press S, then click New signature… in the bar below it.
Make your signature
On Draw, sign with a mouse, a trackpad, a finger or a pen; Clear starts again. On Type, enter Your name and it’s shown in a handwriting style your device has. On Photo, choose a photo of your signature on paper and tick Make the paper clear. Pick blue, black or red, then Add signature.
Place it on the page
The bar says Click where your signature goes. Click the line, then drag it into place or pull a corner to resize it. Today’s date adds the date in the same way.
Fill in the rest and download
Use Add text to type your name or a date anywhere on the page, then press Download. The signed PDF is in your downloads.
What you get is a picture of your handwritten signature on the page, like signing a paper copy and scanning it back. That’s what most leases, permission slips and forms ask for. It isn’t a certificate-based digital signature that proves who signed: when a sender needs one of those, they’ll say so and usually send it through their own signing service.
Signed in a hurry and put it in the wrong place? Open the downloaded PDF in Anyfile again: the signature comes back as something you can move or delete, while every other PDF reader shows it as part of the page. Tick Keep it on this device for next time to reuse a signature without drawing it again.
Nothing is uploaded: your browser reads the file and makes the new one on your device. See how it works, and how to check.
Other ways to do it
On a Mac. Open the PDF in Preview, show the Markup toolbar and click Sign. You can create a signature on the trackpad, with the camera or on a nearby iPhone, and it’s saved for next time.
On an iPhone or iPad. Open the PDF in Files or Mail, tap Markup, then the add button and Add Signature.
Adobe Acrobat Reader. The free app’s Fill & Sign tool does the same on Windows and Mac, once you’ve installed it.
When Anyfile is quicker
On a Mac or an iPhone, the built-in tools are just as quick. Anyfile is quicker on a Windows PC or a Chromebook without Acrobat, on a work computer where you can’t install anything, and when you’d rather not send a private document through an e-signature website.
Questions
Is a signature added this way legally valid?
For many everyday documents it’s accepted just like a signature on a scanned page. Some contracts require a certified digital signature instead; the sender will tell you if so. If in doubt, ask them.
Can I sign with my finger on a phone or tablet?
Yes. Open the PDF editor in your phone’s browser, choose Sign and draw on the Draw tab with your finger or a stylus.
Is my signature stored anywhere?
Only if you tick Keep it on this device for next time, and then only in this browser on this device. Otherwise it’s kept for this document alone.
Is my PDF uploaded?
No. It’s signed in your browser, on your device, and nothing is sent to a server.