Fill & Sign PDF

How do you fill and sign a PDF from start to finish?

Choose a PDF to fill and sign, enter answers in the detected fields, and use Text, Date, Check or Signature for additions on the page. Click Prepare download, then Download signed PDF to save the result. The distinction is useful: existing form fields hold structured answers, while toolbar items add visible content wherever the form has an empty space.

For a worked example, imagine a two-page permission form with an interactive name field on page one and printed consent, date and signature blanks on page two. Enter Alex Morgan in the detected name field. On page two, choose Check and click beside the consent statement. Choose Date, click the date blank, then use Edit text to match the format requested on the form. Choose Signature, draw your mark, click Use signature, and click the signature line. This creates three placed items on page two while the name remains a form-field value until export.

After each placement the toolbar returns to Select, so choose the required tool again before adding another item. Drag the signature to align it with the line and use its resize handle to fit the available space. Leave Flatten form enabled for a finished copy, or disable it if someone must continue filling the interactive name field. For an input named permission.pdf, the initial output name is permission-signed.pdf; you can change it before downloading. Open that saved copy and check both pages before sending it.

How Can You Fill Regular Forms and Non-Fillable PDFs?

Fill & Sign PDF brings two common tasks into one browser workspace. A regular PDF form contains named fields with defined positions, types and sometimes a list of allowed answers. The editor detects these fields and shows controls directly over the page. Type into text boxes, tick checkboxes and choose available selections. Read-only fields remain protected. Review repeated fields carefully because widgets with the same field name share a value.

A scanned form or a PDF designed only for printing often has no interactive fields. For these documents, choose Text, Date or Check and place the item over an empty line or box. This creates a visible addition without changing the underlying scanned image. The Date tool starts with today's date in an English month-day-year style, and its text remains editable. It does not guess the date expected by the form. Check the instructions next to each blank, especially where the recipient requires a numeric date format.

Which fields can you fill, and when should you place an item?

Choose the control that matches the document

Document feature	What to use	Result
Existing text field	The control over the field	Updates that named form field
Existing checkbox	The checkbox control	Stores a checked or unchecked value
Radio, dropdown or option list	The displayed selection control	Uses the form's available options
Printed blank on a scan	Text, Date or Check	Adds visible page content
Printed signature line	Signature	Places a signature image

Radio-group choices appear as a selection control rather than requiring you to draw a check over each printed circle. Multiple selections are available only when the original dropdown or option list supports them. Existing signature fields and push buttons are excluded from the filling controls: place a visual signature using the toolbar instead of expecting the editor to create a certificate signature inside a signing field.

Added Text is a single line. Newline characters entered through Edit text become spaces, and long text is fitted to the page width rather than wrapped into a paragraph. For an address with several lines, place separate text items and align each line. The editor does not rewrite the original PDF text or turn scanned blanks into new interactive fields. Use Redact PDF when information must be removed rather than covered with an addition.

How Do You Place and Adjust a Visual Signature?

Choose Signature to open a drawing pad. Draw with a mouse, finger or pen, select black or blue ink, undo the last stroke or clear the pad and start again. You can also select a PNG or JPEG image from your device. Remove white makes near-white pixels transparent, which helps avoid a white rectangle covering the form. Turn it off if pale details belong to your signature image. The image is trimmed to its visible ink before placement. Signature uploads accept PNG or JPEG files up to 10 MB and reject images above 16 million pixels, so reducing file size alone is not enough for an oversized image. Uploaded images are fitted into the 600 by 200 drawing canvas; use a clear, tightly framed source to avoid an unnecessarily small mark. Remove white is enabled initially and removes pixels whose red, green and blue channels are all at least 240, so an off-white background may remain if it is darker than that threshold.

After placing an item, drag it into position or focus it and use the arrow keys. Holding Shift moves it in larger steps. A signature has a resize handle that preserves its proportions; selected text and dates have an editing control above the pages. Delete removes the selected item. On a narrow screen, pages fit the available width and the tool buttons remain near the bottom while you scroll through the document. Keyboard users can choose a tool and use the Add button beneath a page.

How can you align items without dragging?

Choose a tool and use the page's Add button, such as Add text to page 1, to insert an item near the upper-left corner. Focus the item to move it with arrow keys. Each press moves it one screen pixel; holding Shift changes that to ten screen pixels. At 100% zoom, six presses of ArrowRight followed by one Shift+ArrowRight move an item sixteen pixels right, unless a page edge constrains it. This gives a repeatable way to make small alignment corrections.

Focus the resize handle to change size with arrow keys. For signatures, Left and Right change the width while preserving the aspect ratio; Up and Down do not resize them. Text and check items also support resizing. Delete or Backspace removes a focused item, and Delete item removes the selected one from the selection controls. Zoom offers Fit width and 100% (fit on mobile), so a narrow display can still show the whole page width.

How Does a Visual Signature Differ from a Digital Signature?

This tool adds a visual signature. It is not a certificate-based digital signature. A signature image makes a mark visible on the document, but it does not prove who placed that image or cryptographically verify that the document has remained unchanged. A certificate-based signing workflow uses a private key and certificate to associate a signer with a document and let compatible readers check its integrity.

Acceptance depends on the recipient and their process. A recipient may request a visible signature for a routine form, while another process may require identity verification, a trusted certificate or an audit trail. Confirm the requested format before sending the document. This tool does not determine legal validity or recipient acceptance. Editing changes the document, so do not rely on an existing certificate signature remaining valid. Keep the original and work from an unsigned copy when possible.

Why Would You Flatten a Completed PDF Form?

Flatten form is enabled by default. It turns the completed appearance of regular form fields into page content and removes their interactive controls. This helps a recipient see the filled answers without depending on how their viewer handles editable form appearances. Leave it unchecked when a colleague still needs to fill additional fields. Added toolbar items are visible page content regardless of this setting. After preparing a file, use Edit again to return to the same editing state, change a value or the flattening option, and prepare a fresh download. An unflattened export retains regular form controls; it does not make added text or a signature image into editable form fields. Flattening does not prevent someone from editing the PDF with specialist software and does not securely remove information hidden beneath a new item.

What Stays Private and Which Limits Apply?

Your document never leaves your device. The browser reads the PDF, displays the pages, applies field values and placements, and builds a new downloadable file in memory. No account or upload is required, and the output contains no added watermark. The signature remains in memory for this session only. Save the result before closing or reloading the tab, because editing state is not kept in persistent browser storage.

Choose one PDF up to 100 MB. Available device memory also affects how comfortably large files work. Password-protected documents need the correct password and supported encryption. XFA forms require conversion to a regular PDF first; the editor shows a warning and withholds its editing and download controls for these documents. Unicode text uses an embedded Noto Sans font when standard PDF fonts cannot encode it; glyph coverage depends on that font. Finally, open the downloaded copy and inspect every completed page before sharing it, keeping the original separately.

What should you check before sharing the saved file?

Compare names, selected options, consent marks and date formatting against the original instructions. Inspect signature placement on every required page, not just the last page you edited. Confirm whether the recipient needs editable fields before flattening. If several documents belong together, finish this one first and use Merge PDF for the separate combining task. Keep an unchanged source copy so you can start again if the recipient requests a different format.