How to sign a PDF online for free: draw or type it, place it, download
blupdf Team · 2026-09-08 · 5 min read
A contract arrives by email, someone needs it back "signed today", and the printer is somewhere else. Printing, signing with a pen, photographing the page and sending back a skewed picture is the slow way. Signing in the browser takes under a minute once you know the steps, and the result is a proper PDF with your signature exactly where it belongs. This guide covers how to do it in blupdf, what a placed signature actually is, and where the legal limits lie.
What you need
A browser and the PDF. There is nothing to install and no card to enter: every blupdf account starts with 1,000 free credits, and signing does not use any of them. The same steps work on a phone, where you draw with a finger instead of a mouse.
Step by step
Open the PDF in Studio
Drop the file into Studio, or choose Sign a PDF. Digital pages open at once; a scanned contract is recognised when you first reach the page, so the signature line is a real place on a real page.
Create your signature
Choose Signature in the top bar (the pen in the bottom bar on a phone). The dialog offers Draw, Type and Saved. Draw signs with a mouse, trackpad or finger. Type sets your name in a handwriting face, which is the tidy option when the signature only needs to be legible and consistent. Saved lists signatures you kept before.
Place it
After you confirm, the bar says Click on a page to place the signature. Click on the signature line and it lands there. Drag to move it, pull a corner to resize it, press Delete to remove it and try again.
Add the date and the name
Many signature lines come with Date and Print name lines next to them. Choose Text, click on each line and type; the text takes the font and size of the nearest label, so it matches the form.
Download
Choose Download and keep PDF. The signature is embedded as an image object exactly where you placed it, and the date and name are real text. Send the file; any viewer shows it the same way.
What a placed signature is
In blupdf, a signature is a picture placed on the page: a vector-smooth image of what you drew or typed, embedded in the PDF as an image object. It is not a form field, so it cannot be dragged off or cleared by the next person to open the file, and it is not a flattened print of the page, so the rest of the document keeps its real text. Signatures also appear in the JPG and PNG downloads; the DOCX download is a text copy and leaves pictures out.
Every signature you create is saved to your account. On the next document, Signature opens straight to Saved and the job is two clicks. You manage them under Settings, Saved signatures, where you can draw new ones or remove old ones; removing a saved signature never touches documents where you already placed it.
Signing a scanned contract
Scans are the common case: the other side printed, signed and scanned, and now it is your turn. blupdf recognises the scanned page when you open it (80 credits per page, once) and rebuilds it as a real document, with the lines and boxes redrawn. Your signature goes on the rebuilt page, and if you need to correct a date or a name that was typed wrong before printing, click the text and retype it in the matched font. Show original scan on the page lets you compare with the scan at any time.
Signing on a phone
Open blupdf.com in the phone's browser, drop the file from your files app, and tap the pen in the bottom bar. Draw with a finger, tap where the signature goes, then pinch to zoom and check the placement. The Text tool and the Download dialog are in the same bar. The file downloads to the phone or shares straight from the browser.
More than one signature, more than one page
Place the same signature as many times as the document needs: every page of an initialled lease, both copies of an agreement. If the contract needs a separate signature page, Add blank page in the page rail appends a white page of the same size, and the Text and Signature tools work on it like on any page.
Is a drawn signature legally binding?
Usually, for everyday agreements, but it depends on where you are and what you are signing. A drawn or typed signature in blupdf is an image placed on the document. Many jurisdictions accept that as an electronic signature for ordinary contracts; some documents (wills, certain property transfers, notarised deeds) require a wet signature or a witnessed process. blupdf does not verify identity or keep the audit trail that formal e-signature services provide, so if the other side requires certified signing, use that service. Only sign documents you are authorised to sign.
Cost
Creating, saving and placing a signature costs nothing, and downloading is free. The only charges are the ones every document has: 50 credits per digital page or 80 per scanned page when it first opens, and 1 credit per character for text you type, such as the date. A three-page digital contract, signed and dated, costs about 160 credits; the free 1,000 covers it several times over.
FAQ
Can I upload a photo of my signature?
Not as a picture; blupdf's signature dialog draws or types. Drawing with a trackpad or a finger gives a cleaner result than a photographed signature on paper anyway, because there is no paper texture to remove.
Can I remove a signature after placing it?
Yes. Select it and press Delete or Backspace, or use Undo. Nothing is final until you download, and even then the original stays in your account.
Does the recipient see the signature in Preview, Acrobat or a phone viewer?
Yes. The signature is a standard image object inside a standard PDF. There is nothing blupdf-specific in the file.
The reference pages are Signing a PDF and Pages, downloads and your library.