Sign a document with a saved signature
Important
ASH PDF Studio places a visual signature: an image of your handwriting or name. It is not a digital certificate, it does not prove who signed, and it does not protect the document from later changes.
In the app: Help ▸ Show me
Create a signature
- Choose Tools ▸ Manage signatures…, or open the Sign menu and choose Manage signatures….
- Under Add new:, choose Draw…, Type…, Import image… or Paste…. You can also press Ctrl+V in the dialog with an image on the clipboard.
- Name it, and choose whether it is a Signature or Initials.
- Choose Add to library.
| Method | What you do |
|---|---|
| Draw | Draw on the pad with the mouse, pen or finger; pen colour is dark blue or black |
| Type | Type your name and pick one of four handwriting-style fonts and a colour |
| Import image / Paste | Use a PNG or JPEG; the background is removed |
Saved signatures are kept as an image cropped to the ink. They are protected by your Windows account. To add a password, choose Lock… beside the item. A locked signature asks for its password when you use it (once each time the app runs), and a forgotten password cannot be recovered. Use Remove password… to unlock it. Signatures saved under another Windows user or computer cannot be opened; create them again. The arrow buttons set the order, and the default one is listed first.
Place a signature
- Open the Sign button on the toolbar.
- Choose a saved signature or initials. This arms the placement; click the page to put it there (Esc cancels).
- Move or resize it like any object (Select, group, copy and paste).
Other items in the menu:
- Signature block… places the signature with a name, an optional title and a date as one group.
- Place on pages… (shown in the options bar while a placed signature is selected) copies it to all, odd, even or a range of pages, at the same relative position.
- Apply signature fixes the selected signature, with the rest of its block, into the page.
What Apply signature does
Applying burns the signature into the page content like a wet signature. It then cannot be moved or edited, here or in other viewers, once the file is saved. Undo reverses it until you close the file (Undo and redo). If other objects lie under the signature, the confirmation lists them and applies them with it.
Applying asks for confirmation first. To stop that, tick Don't ask again in the dialog, or untick Ask before applying a signature to the page under Annotations in Preferences. It still asks when the document is already digitally signed, because saving over it invalidates that signature; Save as a copy keeps the original intact (Save and print).
Tip
To add a stamp rather than a signature, see Stamps.