About the Sign a PDF Tool (English)
Signing a document used to mean printing it, signing it by hand, and scanning it back in — a slow, wasteful loop that is especially painful when you only need to add your name to a single line. The ApneSoftware Sign a PDF tool removes all of that. It lets you create a signature and place it directly onto the PDF on screen, then download a clean, signed file, in under a minute and entirely within your browser. Your document never leaves your device, which matters a great deal when you are signing contracts, agreements, consent forms and other sensitive paperwork.
There are three ways to create your signature, so you can use whichever suits you. Draw lets you sign with a mouse, trackpad or — most naturally — your finger or a stylus on a touch screen, with a signature pad you can clear and redo until it looks right; you can even choose the ink colour and pen thickness. Type turns your name into a signature in a handwriting or other style, which is quick and consistent when a stylised typed name is acceptable. Upload lets you bring in an existing signature image — for example a photo or scan of your signature on paper — and, because scans usually sit on a white background, an option can make that white transparent so only the ink shows over the page.
Once your signature is ready and you have opened your PDF, you place it with a live, interactive editor. The signature appears as a movable box over the page: drag it anywhere, pull the corner handle to resize it, and use the round handle to rotate it to any angle. For precise work you can type an exact width and height in points, and an opacity slider lets you make the signature sit lightly over existing content or stand out boldly. A thumbnail sidebar, previous/next buttons and zoom controls let you move to exactly the right page and see it clearly while you position the signature.
Real documents often need more than one signature, so the tool includes flexible page targeting. Apply your signature to just the current page, to every page, to the first or last page, to all odd or all even pages, or to a precise custom range such as 1-3, 5. This is ideal for initialling every page of an agreement or signing only the final page of a letter. Because the signature is placed at the same position on each targeted page, a multi-page document can be signed consistently in a single step.
Beyond the signature itself, the tool can add the common accompaniments that formal documents expect. A one-click option stamps today's date next to the signature, and a label field lets you print a line such as “Authorised Signatory”, your name or your company under the signature — useful for official approvals. Together these turn a bare signature into a complete signing block without any extra tools.
When you are ready, the output options give you control over the final file. Rename the download, choose whether to preserve or remove the document metadata, and optionally compress the result. You can download the signed PDF immediately or send it straight to your printer. The signature is drawn onto the page as part of the PDF's content, so it appears in every viewer and prints exactly as positioned, and the rest of the document is left untouched.
It is worth being clear about what kind of signing this is. This tool adds a visible, drawn signature — an image of your signature placed on the page — which is what the vast majority of everyday forms, agreements and internal approvals require, and what people mean when they say “sign this PDF”. It is fast, private and free. It is not a cryptographic digital signature with a certificate that mathematically proves identity and detects tampering; those require a signing certificate and specialised software. For ordinary signing needs, a clear visible signature placed correctly is exactly right.
Privacy and convenience run through the whole design. Your PDF and your signature are processed entirely on your own device using JavaScript; nothing is uploaded, stored or logged, so even highly confidential documents are safe. Password-protected PDFs you are authorised to open are handled locally, the interface is fully responsive and touch-friendly for signing on the go, and there is no account to create, no software to install and no watermark added. Whether you are approving an invoice, returning a signed contract, initialling a lease or signing a consent form, the Sign a PDF tool gets it done in seconds.