Signing paper documents is usually easy because the tools we use are so familiar.
But what happens when you’re out of town at a hotel room and someone sends you a document to sign by email? Or let’s say you’re somewhere where you don’t have access to a printer?
Then signing that paper document becomes hard.
Signing Documents Should Never Be Hard
Signing PDFs is always easy, and often more convenient than dealing with paper documents. You just need to know how to create a digital signature, and how to use it after you create it.
A great tool for this is Adobe Reader, the free program you probably already have on your computer. The most recent version is called “Adobe Reader DC” (click here to download —or to upgrade to— the current version)
If you have Adobe Acrobat (the $300, more fully featured, program), the process is exactly the same.
How to Create a Digital Signature
After updating (or installing) Adobe Reader DC, open the program and then open a PDF you want to sign. Or open this sample PDF (if you a document to work with).
Once you’ve got the PDF open in Adobe Reader follow these instructions.
1. Click the Tools Menu, as shown below.
2. Then the Stamps icon, as shown below.
3. From new toolbar that appears, (1) select Custom Stamps, and then from the drop-down that appears, (2) select Create, as shown below.
4. You’ll then see a pop-up box to browse for an image file that you are going to use as your digital signature, as shown below.
(if you don’t have a graphic of your signature, then watch the following 4-minute video tutorial, or if you prefer for me to create it for you scroll to the end of this post)
One thing to be aware of: the image you import into Adobe Reader has to be a PDF. You will not be able to import any other kind of graphic file, because of restrictions that Adobe puts on how much functionality the free Reader program has. (Again, if you want me to do this for you, just scroll down and read the final paragraph).
5. Next, you can (1) assign a Category for your signature, and (2) give it a name, as shown below.
At this point, you’re ready to use your digital signature in any PDF document.
Want me to do this for you?
Having a PDF stamp that looks exactly like your real paper signature is awesome. Creating it is (as you can probably see) sort of a pain in the ass.
I’ve gotten really good at creating these signatures, and I know how to do them well.
I charge $20 and guarantee that you’ll be satisfied with how your signature looks. If you don’t like the way it looks I’ll redo it until you are satisfied.
To get started, click below and then I’ll give you instructions on how to send me your signature so I can create a digital version.