How do I add a signature to a PDF?

Open the PDF in a signing site or in Preview on a Mac, create a typed, drawn or uploaded signature, place it on the page and save the file. The steps for each site are above.

Can I add a signature to a PDF for free?

Yes, on the four sites above: Sejda lists a free plan with limits, PDFgear says no account or credit card is needed, and iLovePDF shows unlimited self-signing on its free plan. Adobe's tool is free but needs a sign-in .

Do I need an account to sign a PDF online?

Sejda's pricing page and PDFgear's page say no signup is required, and iLovePDF let us reach its download page without signing in, although its page does not say so. Adobe's steps say you must be signed in to complete a fillable form, and we did not test a plain PDF.

Can I type my signature instead of drawing it?

Yes. iLovePDF, Sejda , PDFgear and Adobe each offer a typed option next to drawing and uploading.

Should I upload a contract to a free site?

The four sites say different things about your file, in the File Handling table above. Read the site's privacy page first, and keep a copy of the unsigned file.

Do I need a certificate to sign a PDF?

Not for the steps above, which add a typed, drawn or uploaded mark. Adobe's page describes certificate-based signing as a separate kind that uses a digital ID to verify the signer and detect changes after signing.

Is a signature added to a PDF legally valid?

In the United States, 15 U.S.C. 7001 says that for a transaction in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, a signature may not be denied legal effect, validity or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form. Section 7003 lists exceptions, including wills and family law. We are not lawyers, and our legal post has more.

How do I get someone else to sign a PDF?

Send it through a tool that collects the signature. Adobe and Dropbox have small free allowances, and Loop is one way on a Mac. See Other Signers above.

Where do the prices and facts on this page come from?

From each site's own pages, read on 6 November 2026: iLovePDF with its pricing and security pages, Sejda with its pricing and privacy pages, PDFgear , Apple , Dropbox , Cloudflare and govinfo.gov . Adobe's pages are from archived copies of 26 October and 13 October 2026 . Loop's details come from the app itself. We ran iLovePDF's steps on a blank test PDF as far as its download page, without downloading. We did not run Sejda's, PDFgear's or Adobe's steps to the end, so those are the sites' own descriptions. We could not confirm PDFgear's local processing, which of Sejda's limit messages apply to signing, Adobe's deletion period, or eSignGear's terms. We could not confirm whether tax is included in any price.

How to Add a Signature to a PDF

Quick Answer

A web browser is enough to sign your own PDF. iLovePDF, Sejda and PDFgear say no account is needed (Sejda and PDFgear in words, iLovePDF only in our own test run), while Adobe's steps say you must be signed in to complete a fillable form. Sejda and PDFgear sign your own copy. Collecting a signature from someone else is covered under Other Signers.

Your job	Best route	Section
Sign on a Mac	Preview	Preview
Sign anywhere	A free site	Free Sites
Someone else signs	A request tool	Other Signers

This page covers PDFs. For a Word file, see how to sign a Word document.

Signature Types

Three things get called a signature on a PDF. A typed name or a drawn one is an electronic signature, and so is an uploaded image of your handwriting. A digital signature is different: Adobe's page says it uses a certificate-based digital ID to verify the signer's identity and detect changes made after signing. This post covers the first kind.

PDFgear's page says an electronic signature on its own does not verify who signed or detect later changes, and Sejda says it does not guarantee its signature is legally binding. The law is in our post on whether electronic signatures are legally binding.

Preview

Apple's Preview guide says you can capture your signature using your trackpad, the built-in camera on your Mac, or your iPhone or iPad. The steps are in our Mac guide, and our iPhone guide covers the phone.

Free Sites

We read each site's own pages on 6 November 2026. Adobe's sign page blocks plain scripted reads, so most of its facts come from an archived copy of 26 October 2026; we also read the live page in a web browser on 9 November 2026 and it matched, with the added line that a file is deleted unless you sign in to save it. Most of the pages show no updated date. Sejda's privacy page says it is effective from October 1, 2026.

Site	Sign-in	Signature types
iLovePDF	None in our test	Type, draw, upload
Sejda	No signup required	Type, draw, upload, camera
PDFgear	No sign-up required	Draw, type, upload
Adobe	Page says sign in	Type, draw, upload

iLovePDF

On 6 November 2026 we ran a blank one-page PDF through iLovePDF's Sign PDF page in a browser, without signing in. The page shows Login and Sign up links but does not say whether an account is needed. We went as far as the page with the Download file button and did not download the result.

Click Select PDF file.
Under "Who will sign this document?", choose Only me.
In Set your signature details, type your full name and pick a style, or draw or upload a signature (PNG, JPG or SVG), then click Apply.
Drag the Signature field onto the page and click Sign.
On the result page, click Download file.

The page marks Digital Signature as Premium. Its pricing page lists Sign PDF at 50 MB per task on every plan, a batch of 3 on the free plan, self-signed signatures as Unlimited on the free plan and signature requests as Limited.

Sejda

Sejda's sign page gives these steps.

Click Upload to choose your PDF.
Click Sign, then Add Signature.
Type your name in one of over 10 handwriting styles, draw it with a mouse or trackpad, or upload an image. The page's own signature box also has a camera option, which asks you to sign on a white piece of paper and hold it in front of the camera.
Open the Sign menu, pick your signature and click where it goes. Drag its corners to resize it.

Sejda's pricing page says free use has page and hourly limits and limited file uploads, and paid plans allow up to 500MB per file. The sign page's own limit messages name 50 MB per file, 50 pages, 3 tasks an hour and 30 files an hour. We could not tell which apply to signing.

PDFgear

PDFgear's steps are short.

Select your PDF. When asked who will sign, choose the option to sign it yourself.
Choose Signature, then Draw, Type or Upload image, and select OK.
Click the PDF to place the signature, then adjust its size and position.
Choose Save PDF.

The page shows no file-size, page or document limit.

Adobe

Adobe's archived page gives these steps.

Click Select a file and choose your PDF. Adobe says the file is uploaded to Acrobat web and you must be signed in to complete the fillable form. These steps are written for a fillable form, and we did not test a plain PDF.
Use the tools in the Sign panel to add a signature. You can type, draw or upload an image of it.
Click Next, then download your form or get a link to share it.

The page says its free signing tools have no trial and no expiry.

File Handling

Site	Where the PDF goes	Limit stated
iLovePDF	2 hours, or 5 years signed	50 MB; batch of 3
Sejda	Uploaded, then deleted	Page, hourly limits
PDFgear	Stays in browser, it says	None on its page
Adobe	Uploaded to Acrobat web	Deleted unless you sign in

iLovePDF. Its security page says processed files are deleted within two hours and that it keeps signed documents for a maximum of 5 years under legal requirements. The download page in our test said files are deleted after 2 hours, and we could not tell which rule covers a PDF you sign yourself.
Sejda. Its privacy page says uploaded and processed files are permanently deleted, and that remembered signatures are stored in your browser's storage.
PDFgear. Its page says files are processed locally in your browser and no file data is uploaded. That is PDFgear's own claim and we did not confirm it.
Adobe. Its live sign page, read in a web browser on 9 November 2026, says your file is handled by Adobe servers and deleted unless you sign in to save it. It gives no deletion period.

For a contract, read the site's privacy page before you upload it.

Other Signers

Sejda and PDFgear are the two built for signing your own copy. Sejda's sign page says requesting others is discontinued, and PDFgear sends invitations to eSignGear, a separate product we did not read. iLovePDF's sign page offers to send a signature request to others, rated Limited on the free plan in its pricing table.

For Adobe, an archived copy of 13 October 2026 says a free account gets two request e-signatures transactions every 30 days on a rolling basis. Dropbox is outside this list; its help page says all customers can send up to three free signature requests per month. Prices for eight tools are in our free e-signature comparison.

Loop

Loop is a Mac app by Theodore HQ that turns a PDF into your own branded link. For this job it does one thing: the person you send it to signs on the page by typing their full name, with no account.

Setup. In the link's settings, switch on Require Signature, then mark where people sign with up to 12 Sign Here spots.
Signing. The signer opens the link, types their full name into a box labeled Your Full Name and presses Sign. The page shows the name in a handwriting font, and a Decline to Sign link sits below it.
Order. You can name up to 10 signers, and they sign one after another.
Result. The Download Signed Copy menu item saves a PDF of the pages with the signature in place, followed by a record page saying who signed, when and from where. Each page in it is a JPEG picture, so words in the document cannot be selected.

The record page describes the signature as a simple electronic signature. Where the signer typed their own email, it says the email was not checked.

Try Loop free for 14 days

Your own branded link, with notes on the exact second. $49 once.

Download for Mac

Limits

Typed name only. There is no drawn, uploaded or camera signature, and no initials, date or text fields for the signer.
No signing gate. Require Signature puts an email form in front of the link. It does not hold the file back until it is signed.
No ID check or certificate. There is no text-message code either, so Loop's record is not a digital signature in the certificate sense. We make no claim about how a court would weigh a typed name.
Built for collecting others' signatures. We found no feature in the app for signing a PDF you were sent, so use a free site or Preview for that.
Mac only on your side. The signer opens the link in a web browser.
No email. You paste the link into your own message.

Cost

The four sites cost nothing on the pages we read. Sejda's pricing page lists a free plan with no signup, and PDFgear's page says no account, registration or credit card is required. Adobe's page says its free tools have no trial and no expiry, and iLovePDF's pricing page shows unlimited self-signing on its free plan. Apple's Preview guide shows no price.

Loop costs $49 once for one person, after a 14-day free trial that starts on first run and asks for no payment. Your signed files sit in your own Cloudflare account. Cloudflare's R2 pricing page, updated 30 October 2026, lists 10 GB-month of free storage a month, then $0.015 per GB-month, and no charge for egress bandwidth. During the trial, a "Shared with Loop" badge shows on the pages your signers see.