Signing a PDF used to mean printing it, signing with a pen, scanning it back, and hoping the scan wasn't crooked. You can skip all of that. An electronic signature — a signature you add to the document digitally — is quick, looks clean, and in most countries carries the same legal weight as a handwritten one.
The sign tool lets you draw, type, or upload your signature and place it exactly where it belongs. Everything happens in your browser, so a private contract stays on your device the entire time.
Is an electronic signature legally binding?
In the vast majority of everyday situations, yes. Electronic signatures are recognized by law in most of the world:
- United States: the ESIGN Act (2000) and UETA give electronic signatures the same legal standing as handwritten ones for most agreements.
- European Union: the eIDAS regulation recognizes electronic signatures across member states.
- Canada: PIPEDA and provincial e-commerce acts recognize electronic signatures.
- United Kingdom, Australia, and many others have equivalent laws on the books.
The common thread across these laws is intent: what matters is that the person meant to sign and agreed to the terms. A signature you draw or type onto a PDF meets that bar for the great majority of documents — leases, offer letters, consent forms, invoices, waivers, and the like.
A handful of document types can require something more formal, such as a notarized signature or a certificate-based digital ID: wills, certain property deeds, and some court filings, depending on where you live. If you're signing one of those, check the local rule. For everything else, a free electronic signature is enough.
Three ways to sign, and when to use each
| Method | How it works | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Draw | Sign with your mouse, trackpad, or fingertip | The most personal look, especially on a phone or tablet |
| Type | Type your name and pick a handwriting-style font | Speed and legibility when a stylized name is fine |
| Upload | Add a photo or scan of your real signature | Reusing a consistent signature across many documents |
All three produce a valid electronic signature. Drawing on a touchscreen tends to look the most natural; typing is fastest; uploading a saved image keeps your signature identical every time.
Sign a PDF in four steps
- Open the sign tool. Go to Sign PDF and open your document.
- Create your signature. Draw it, type it, or upload an image. You can adjust the size and color so it reads clearly against the page.
- Place it. Drag the signature onto the signature line and resize it to fit. Add the date or your initials elsewhere if the document needs them.
- Download the signed PDF. Save it and send it back. The signature is baked into the file.
If the document also has fields to complete before you sign, fill them first with the form filler — our guide on filling a PDF without printing walks through it.
After you sign: send it the right way
Once the signature is in place, you'll usually email the document straight back. If the signed file is large — signed contracts often bundle scanned pages — run it through the compress tool so it clears the attachment limit; our guides on compressing a PDF for free and on getting a PDF under 25 MB show how far you can shrink it without hurting legibility. Signing from a phone is often the smoothest route of all, since you can draw with a fingertip instead of wrestling a trackpad — the mobile editing guide covers that flow. And if you have several jobs stacked up — sign one document, fill another, combine a third — start from the main editor and move between tools without re-opening files.
Sign your PDF in under a minute
Draw, type, or upload a signature — free, no account, and the document never leaves your device.
Open the Sign PDF tool →Free browser signing vs DocuSign-style services
Dedicated e-signature platforms like DocuSign are built for a specific need: sending a document to other people to sign and tracking who signed when. That's useful for multi-party contracts. But if you just need to sign a document yourself and send it back, they're more than you need — and they upload your file to their cloud.
| EZ PDF Editor | DocuSign-style service | |
|---|---|---|
| Sign a document yourself | Free, instant | Free tier is limited |
| Account required | No | Yes |
| File uploaded to cloud | No — stays on your device | Yes |
| Send to others to sign + track | Not the focus | Yes, that's their strength |
| Cost for regular use | Free | Paid plan |
Rule of thumb: if you're signing it yourself, a free browser tool is faster and more private. If you need to collect signatures from several people with an audit trail, a dedicated platform earns its keep.
Sign on any device, keep it private
The sign tool works the same on every device, and signing on a phone is often the nicest experience because you can draw with a fingertip.
- iPhone or iPad: open Sign PDF in Safari and draw your signature on the screen.
- Android: same in Chrome — draw, place, and download.
- Windows or Mac: draw with a trackpad, type your name, or upload a scan of your signature.
On every one of these, the signing happens in your browser. The document is never uploaded, so even a sensitive contract stays entirely on your machine — you can confirm it by signing in airplane mode after the page loads.
The short version
Signing a PDF electronically is free, fast, and legally binding for almost everything you'll ever sign. Draw, type, or upload your signature with the sign tool, place it, and download a clean signed file — all on your own device, since nothing is uploaded. Pair it with the form filler when a document needs completing first, or browse the blog for more step-by-step guides.