Adding a Visible Signature to a PDF
What this tool does
This tool places a signature image directly onto a page of your PDF. You produce the signature in one of two ways: draw it freehand on the signing pad with a mouse, trackpad, or touchscreen while choosing the pen colour, or upload a signature image you already have. The mark is then written into the document with pdf-lib exactly where you drop it, and the result downloads as a new PDF that carries the signature as part of the page.
The signing pad records strokes as you make them, so a drawn signature keeps the natural line of your hand rather than a font that imitates handwriting.
When to use it
Reach for it whenever a form, letter, or agreement asks for a signature and printing, signing, and scanning would waste time. Onboarding paperwork, delivery receipts, permission slips, rental documents, and internal approvals are all typical cases where a hand-placed signature is exactly what is expected.
Because you can add more than one mark, it also suits documents that need initials on several pages or a signature alongside a date in different spots.
Example: signing page two
Say you receive a two-page contract that needs your signature at the bottom of page two. Load the file, switch to page two with the navigation arrows, and draw your name on the pad. Choose Place on Page, drag the mark down to the signature line, and pull the size slider until it fits the space. Add the signature, and if the same contract also needs your initials on page one, choose Add Another Signature, move back, and repeat — every mark you place is kept, and the downloaded PDF contains them all.
Notes and edge cases
A drawn signature and an uploaded image behave the same once placed, but a PNG with a transparent background sits cleanly over the text, whereas a JPG carries a solid rectangle around the strokes. Position and size stay adjustable until you commit each mark. One distinction matters: this stamps a visible picture of a signature onto the page, the digital equivalent of signing a printout by hand. It is not a certified cryptographic e-signature tied to an identity certificate, so for legally weighty agreements confirm what your jurisdiction accepts. Password-protected files must be unlocked first, and the whole process — rendering the PDF, capturing the drawing, and stamping the mark — runs locally through PDF.js and pdf-lib.