How to fill in and sign a PDF form without printing it

Open the form in the PDF editor, type into its fields (or add text boxes if it has none), choose Sign to draw or type your signature, drag it onto the signature line, and press Download PDF. No printer or scanner is involved, and the form never leaves your device.

Steps

1. Open the PDF editor and drop the form on the box, or choose it from your device. The first page opens large.
2. If the form has fillable fields, they show as tinted boxes. Click one and type, tick the check boxes and pick from the lists.
3. If the form has no fields, such as a scan, choose Text, click where the answer goes and type. Long lines wrap inside the box.
4. Choose Sign. Under How to sign, pick Draw, Type or Upload, set the Ink colour, and press Place signature.
5. The signature lands in the middle of the page. Drag it onto the line and resize it from a corner.
6. Check every page, then press Download PDF.

Three ways to make the signature

For Upload, sign with a dark pen on plain white paper, in good light, and fill most of the photo with the signature. If the tool says no ink was found, try a darker pen or a brighter photo.

Filling forms well

Fillable forms keep their fields in the downloaded file, so the receiver can still read and, if needed, correct them. Form fields use the PDF's own font, so they accept Latin text only.

Scanned or flat forms have no fields. Use Text boxes and pick the size, a sans, serif or mono face, bold and colour to match the form. Text boxes use the standard PDF fonts, which cover Latin letters, numbers and common symbols. Text in other scripts is drawn into the file as a picture of the box: it shows correctly but cannot be selected or searched.

To tick a box on a flat form, a small text "X" or the Line tool works. Whiteout covers a wrong printed date or name so you can type the correct one over it, but the covered text is still in the file; see the note below.

Undo and Redo sit at the end of the toolbar, and Ctrl+Z or Cmd+Z works too. Moving or resizing something counts as one step.

What a signature added here is, and is not

The signature you place is a picture of your signature, like signing on paper and scanning it. It is not a certificate-based digital signature, and it does not make a document certified or legally accepted anywhere on its own. Whether a signed form is accepted depends on who you send it to, so check their instructions if they ask for a digital signature.

Before you send it

• Remove pages that are only instructions with the page list beside the editor, or later with Delete PDF pages.
• If the form has to go back with supporting documents, combine them with Merge PDF.
• If the file is too big for the upload box, use Compress PDF.
• For personal details, add a password with Protect PDF.

Troubleshooting

"This PDF is password protected." Remove the password first with Unlock PDF, using the password you know, then open the unlocked copy here.

The fields do not show as tinted boxes. The form was saved without fillable fields. Use Text boxes instead.

Whiteout over private details. Whiteout hides content visually; it does not delete it. The covered text can still be found by search or copied out, so do not rely on it to hide an account number.

Questions

Can I sign a PDF on my phone?

Yes. The editor runs in mobile browsers. Choose Sign, then Draw, and sign with your finger.

Will the downloaded form still be fillable?

Yes. Fillable fields stay fillable, with your answers in them.

Is there a watermark or a page limit?

No watermark, no sign-up and no page limit beyond what your device's memory can hold.

Is the form uploaded?

No. It is opened, drawn and rebuilt in your browser on your device.