Is an electronic signature on a PDF legally valid?

In most countries a simple electronic signature — like a drawn or typed signature image — is legally valid for everyday agreements under laws such as eIDAS (EU) and ESIGN (US). High-stakes documents may require a certificate-based qualified signature from a certified provider. For most contracts, forms and letters, a simple signature is accepted.

How do I sign a PDF on my phone?

Open the sign tool in your phone's browser, add the PDF, and draw your signature with your finger — a touchscreen is actually easier to sign on than a mouse. Then place it on the page and download. No app to install.

Can I sign a PDF for free without a watermark?

Yes. PDFAgent's sign tool is completely free and adds no watermark — the signed PDF is clean. Everything happens in your browser, so the contract is never uploaded to a server.

How to Sign a PDF Without Printing It (Free, on Any Device)

Stop printing, signing and scanning. Here's how to add a real signature to a PDF on your computer or phone in under a minute — free, and 100% private.

The old way to sign a document is painful: print it, sign with a pen, scan it back, hope it’s straight. There’s no need. You can add a real signature to a PDF directly on your screen — computer or phone — in well under a minute, free, and without the document ever leaving your device.

How to sign a PDF in 4 steps

Open the Sign PDF tool.
Add the PDF you need to sign.
Draw your signature with your mouse, trackpad or finger — or type your name and pick a handwriting style.
Click where it goes on the page, adjust the size, and download the signed PDF.

That’s it. No account, no watermark, no printer, no scanner.

On a phone it’s even easier

Signing with a mouse feels awkward; signing with your finger on a touchscreen feels natural — much closer to a real pen. Just open the sign tool in your phone’s browser (Safari, Chrome, whatever you have), add the PDF, and sign. There’s no app to download, and it works the same on Android and iPhone.

Is it legally valid?

For everyday documents — rental agreements, consent forms, invoices, offer letters — a simple electronic signature (a drawn or typed signature placed on the page) is legally recognized in most of the world under frameworks like the EU’s eIDAS and the US ESIGN Act. Both sides agreeing and a clear record of the signature is what matters.

What a drawn signature is not is a qualified signature backed by a digital certificate — those are required for some high-stakes legal or government filings and need a certified provider. For the vast majority of documents people sign, the simple signature is exactly what’s expected.

Tip: after signing, you can flatten the PDF so the signature becomes a permanent part of the page and can’t be moved or edited by the recipient.

Why doing it in the browser matters

Think about what you’re usually signing: a contract, a lease, a form with your personal details. Uploading that to an online signing service means a copy of your sensitive document — with your signature on it — sits on someone else’s server.

The Sign PDF tool works entirely in your browser. Your document and your signature are processed on your own device and never transmitted. You can even disconnect from the internet after the page loads and still sign. It’s the convenience of e-signing without handing over the contract.

Signing in several places

Need to initial multiple pages or sign more than once? After placing your first signature, the tool stays loaded — pick another page or position and add it again before you download. And if instead of a handwritten signature you need to stamp a logo or seal image, the Add image to PDF tool does that the same private way.

Printing to sign is officially obsolete. Draw, place, download — done.