How to Sign a PDF Online for Free (No Account Needed)

Most PDFs that need a signature — a lease addendum, a permission slip, a vendor form — don't need a notarized, cryptographically verified e-signature. They need your name to visibly appear on the page in a way that looks like you signed it. Here's how to do that free, without creating an account anywhere.

Sign it in your browser (no upload, free)

The Sign PDF tool on keptlocal lets you draw or type a signature and stamp it onto a PDF, entirely on your device.

1. Create your signature. Draw it with your mouse, finger, or stylus on the canvas, or switch to the Type tab and type your name in a handwriting-style font.
2. Upload the PDF you need to sign.
3. Choose placement: which page (first, last, or all), which corner, and how large.
4. Click Sign PDF — the signed file downloads immediately.

The signature becomes a permanent image embedded in the PDF, not a floating annotation someone could accidentally delete — it's part of the page content once saved.

What this kind of signature actually is

It's worth being precise about what "signing a PDF" means, because the phrase covers two very different things:

• A visual signature — an image of your handwriting (or a typed approximation) placed on the document. This is what this tool, and most free browser-based tools, produce. It communicates intent and looks like a signed document, but there's no cryptographic proof of who signed it or when.
• A digital signature — a cryptographic operation using a certificate tied to a verified identity, which creates a tamper-evident seal: if the document changes after signing, the signature becomes invalid. This is what DocuSign, Adobe Sign, and similar platforms provide, along with an audit trail (IP address, timestamp, consent confirmation) that can hold up as evidence in a dispute.

For internal approvals, permission slips, informal agreements, and paperwork where nobody is likely to contest that you signed it, a visual signature is fine. For contracts with real financial or legal stakes — a lease, a settlement, anything where enforceability might later be questioned — use a proper e-signature platform instead.

Drawing vs. typing

Drawing produces a more personal result, especially on a touchscreen — a finger or stylus on a tablet or phone gives a genuinely handwriting-like line. On a laptop trackpad or mouse, drawing tends to look shaky; typing your name in the handwriting-style font often looks cleaner in that case. Neither is more "official" than the other — both produce the same kind of visual signature.

Placement conventions

Bottom-right of the last page is the most common convention for a standard signature block — it's where readers expect to find it, next to a printed name and date line if the document has one. Top-right placement suits documents where each page needs individual initialing rather than a single closing signature. Signing all pages is useful for contracts where every page should carry a mark to prevent pages being swapped after signing.

Privacy: what happens to your files

Your PDF and your signature image never leave your device — signing happens locally using pdf-lib, a JavaScript PDF library running in your browser tab. Open DevTools → Network while signing and you'll see no upload requests. For documents with sensitive content, that matters more than it might seem: most "free" online signing tools upload your file to process it server-side, which means a third party's server briefly holds a contract, a lease, or a form with your personal information on it.

Sign a PDF now with keptlocal's free Sign PDF tool — no upload, no signup. Need to fill in form fields first? Try Fill PDF Form.