Someone sends you a lease, a job offer, or a vendor contract and asks for your signature. The old-fashioned way means printing it, signing with a pen, scanning it back in, and emailing the scan — assuming you even own a printer and scanner anymore. Most people don't.
You don't need either. A signature added directly to the PDF, on your phone or laptop, works for the vast majority of everyday documents. Here's how to do it, and where this approach has limits.
When you'd actually need this
- Rental agreements and leases — landlords increasingly expect a signed PDF back by email
- Job offers and HR forms — offer letters, NDAs, onboarding paperwork
- Freelance and vendor contracts — agreements between two people who'll likely never meet in person
- School and government forms — consent forms, applications, acknowledgements
Is a typed or drawn signature actually valid?
For most everyday agreements, yes — in many countries, an electronic signature carries the same legal weight as a wet-ink one, as long as both parties intended to sign and agree to the document. That said, e-signature laws vary by country and by document type, and some categories (wills, certain property transfers, court filings, anything requiring notarization) often have stricter requirements that a simple typed or drawn signature won't satisfy.
If you're signing something high-stakes — a property sale, a will, anything a lawyer drafted with notarization language in it — it's worth checking the specific legal requirement for that document type rather than assuming a basic e-signature is enough.
Step-by-step: signing your PDF
1
Open the Sign PDF toolWorks directly in your browser — nothing to install.
2
Upload the documentThe PDF loads so you can see exactly where your signature needs to go.
3
Create your signatureDraw it with your mouse or finger, type it in a script font, or upload a photo of your handwritten signature.
4
Place it and downloadDrag your signature onto the right spot on the page, then download the signed PDF.
Draw, type, or upload — which should you use?
✍️
Draw
Closest to a real signature. Best on a touchscreen — harder to make look natural with a mouse.
⌨️
Type
Fastest option. Fine for low-stakes internal forms, less convincing for formal contracts.
📷
Upload
Sign on paper once, photograph it, and reuse that image every time. Most authentic-looking option.
Common questions
Q.Can I reuse the same signature on future documents?
If you upload a photo of your handwritten signature, save that image file somewhere on your device — you can re-upload the same image each time rather than redrawing it.
Q.Can more than one person sign the same PDF?
Yes — sign your part, download it, and send that file to the next person to add their signature in a separate pass. This tool doesn't manage a multi-party signing workflow with tracking and notifications; for that you'd want a dedicated e-signature platform.
Q.Does this work for documents that need notarization?
No — notarization requires a notary to witness the signing, which a basic e-signature tool can't provide. Use this for everyday agreements, not documents with a notarization requirement.
Q.Is it safe to sign sensitive contracts this way?
Yes — PaperStack adds your signature entirely inside your browser. The document is never uploaded to a server, so nobody but you ever sees its contents.