Signature Generator

How do I create an electronic signature?

Open the generator, then draw your name with a mouse, finger or pen, type it in a handwriting font, or upload a photo of a signature written on paper. Pick an ink color, check the preview on the checkerboard, and press Download PNG. The file has a transparent background, so it sits cleanly on any document.

1. Choose Draw, Type or Upload a photo above the preview.
2. Draw in the white box, or type your name and pick a handwriting style, or choose a photo and move Paper removal until the gray paper is gone.
3. Set the ink color, thickness, size or slant until the checkerboard preview looks right.
4. Pick 1x, 2x or 4x and press Download PNG. For a vector file, press Download SVG.
5. Press Copy PNG to paste it into an email, or Sign a PDF with it to open Sign PDF with the signature saved on your device.

An electronic signature made this way is a picture of your mark. To put it on a contract, sign the PDF directly, or add fields first with Create Fillable PDF. A signature with a certificate behind it is a different thing, covered by Digital Signature PDF.

Is a drawn signature legally valid?

Often yes. The US ESIGN Act says a signature cannot be denied legal effect solely because it is in electronic form, and it defines an electronic signature as a sound, symbol or process that a person adopts with the intent to sign. Some documents, such as wills, are excluded, so check the rules for yours.

The law is 15 U.S.C. 7001, from Public Law 106-229. What matters is the intent to sign, so a drawn mark or a typed name can qualify when the signer means it as a signature. The exceptions in section 7003 include wills, codicils and testamentary trusts, and state laws on adoption, divorce and other family law matters. Other countries have their own rules, and some documents need a witness or a certificate-based signature.

This page explains how the tool works. It does not give legal advice. When a lot depends on one signature, ask the party who will receive the document what form it accepts.

Should I save my signature as PNG or SVG?

Choose PNG for Word, Google Docs, email and PDF signers such as Sign PDF. Choose SVG when you need a file that scales to any size without blur, such as a print layout. A PNG is made of pixels, while an SVG stores the pen strokes as paths, so it stays sharp when enlarged.

The PNG grows with the number of pixels, so 4x is about 5 times the size of 1x for this sample. The SVG file stays the same size whether you print it on a card or a poster. The W3C describes the SVG path format that holds each stroke. Use 2x for a screen and 4x when the signature will be printed.

How do I add my signature to a Word document?

Download the PNG, then in Word choose Insert, Pictures and pick the file. Drag a corner handle to resize it and place it above your typed name. Microsoft documents the same route for a scanned signature, and a transparent PNG avoids the white box a scanned page leaves behind.

Microsoft's page Insert a signature in a Word document lists the steps: insert the picture, crop it to the signature, and use Save as Picture to keep a copy for later. You can skip the crop here, because the generator already trims the file to the ink. Word for the web has its own limits, described in Microsoft's Can I add a signature in Word for the web?

To keep the layout fixed, turn the finished file into a PDF with Word to PDF before you send it.

How do I add my signature to Gmail?

Open Gmail, press Settings, then See all settings, and find the Signature section. Add your text, insert the PNG in the box and press Save Changes. Google says an image counts toward the 10,000-character signature limit, so choose the 1x size and resize it if Gmail shows an error.

Google explains the full steps in Create a Gmail signature. A handwritten signature picture goes under your typed name. A transparent PNG works well here because the message background can be any color. This tool makes the handwritten mark only. It does not build the name, title and links block of a business email footer.

How do I get a clean scan of my signature?

Sign with a dark pen on plain white paper, photograph it in even daylight from straight above, and keep the paper flat. Upload the picture and move Paper removal until the gray shading disappears but thin strokes stay. The generator then crops the picture to the ink automatically.

• Pen: a felt-tip or gel pen gives a solid line. A pencil is too pale for a clean cut-out.
• Light: shadows of your hand or phone look like ink to a threshold filter, so photograph near a window and not under a lamp.
• Paper: unlined paper has no printed lines to remove. Lined or graph paper keeps its lines at a low slider setting.
• Starting point: the slider begins at a value picked from your photo with Otsu's method, which splits the dark and light pixels where they separate best.
• Phone photos: iPhone HEIC pictures need HEIC to JPG first if your browser cannot open them.

Pixels at or above the setting turn fully transparent. Pixels more than 40 points darker stay solid. The 40-point band between them keeps the edge of the pen line smooth instead of jagged.

How do I draw a signature that looks like mine?

Draw slowly on the large pad, and use Undo to remove the last stroke when you slip. Keep Smoothing at 2 for a natural line, or set it to 0 to keep every wobble. Raise Pen thickness for a marker look. A stylus helps, because its pressure changes the weight of each stroke.

Each press-and-lift is one stroke, and Undo removes one stroke at a time. On a phone the pad grows taller so a finger has room. Ctrl+Z (Command+Z on a Mac) also undoes while the pad has focus.

Which handwriting fonts can I type my signature in?

Four: Dancing Script, Great Vibes, Pinyon Script and Caveat. Type your name, pick a style, then adjust the size and slant. The typed signature saves as a PNG, or as an SVG built from the letter outlines. All four fonts are free under the SIL Open Font License and ship with this site.

The fonts cover Latin letters. Names in other scripts need the Draw tab. Slant leans the letters from minus 15 to 25 degrees, and the SVG applies the same lean as the PNG. A typed name is the quickest option, and a drawn one looks more like your own hand. See the SIL Open Font License for the terms.