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How to Sign Documents on Mac

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Here is a guide on how to sign documents on your Mac.

In today’s digital age, signing documents is becoming a decreasingly common occurrence as many companies have their documentation available as PDF or other digital formats.

There is a way to sign documents sent to you even if you do not have a printer and scanner handy to do the job. You are able to sign the documents right from with Preview using Markup in macOS.

How to Sign Documents on Mac

Here are the steps to get a signature saved in Markup and sign documents.

Watch the above video for more information on signing documents digitally on your Mac.

Using Preview and Markup to Sign Documents

When you are sent a PDF document that requires your signature or authorization, you often will print the document, perform your signing and then scan the document back to the recipient. However with the Markup tool in Preview, and your Mac’s camera, you are able to sign digitally without printing the document once.

Open PDF Files to Sign in Preview

When you open your PDF file that requires your signature, you will need to also have a blank sheet of paper and a pen to sign. You will be essentially signing the paper, scanning that signature into Markup and then compositing it into your PDF to create the signed document. 

After you have signed your blank sheet of paper with your signature, you will need to use Markup to input the signature into your document. Clicking the Markup icon will review the tools in the dropdown menu. Choose the Sign icon and then click Create Signature. You will be able to sign using a trackpad or by scanning a signed paper with the camera.

If you are using a trackpad you can definitely try to sign yet if you have a piece of paper available, this is my preferred method and will usually read the most authentic on the final document. Write your signature on the blank sheet of paper and then hold it up to your Mac’s camera. You will see a line to guide where the bottom of the signature should sit and once it gets a good scan, it will accept the signature.

Scan Your Signature with Camera

If you are satisfied with how it looks in the preview, you should be able to now use this signature from your Markup menu on subsequent documents. You will be able to click and resize the signature to fit properly on your document and then Save the PDF and you are finished. You can also add Dates and any other handwritten information to a PDF in the same exact fashion. Write it legibly on a piece of paper and then scan it into Markup to be used.

Implement Signature in Document

I have used this countless times in a bind when a printer is not readily available and have never had an issue with the authenticity of the signature. It looks as if the document was printed out and signed yet it was able to be done completely digitally thanks to the Markup extension!

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