Make a signature image
Draw your signature on the pad, or type your name in a script typeface, and download it as a picture with a transparent background.
- Runs in your browser
- Nothing is uploaded
- No sign-up
- No watermark
Before
Result
Processed image will appear here.
How to use the signature generator
Sign on the pad with a mouse, a finger or a stylus, or switch to Typing and enter your name. Pick the ink colour and the thickness, then download the signature as a PNG with a transparent background, ready to place on a document.
- Sign or typeDraw on the pad, or switch to Typing and enter your name.
- Choose the ink and the sizeBlack, blue or any colour; thin or bold; 600 to 2400 px wide.
- Download the PNGTransparent by default, ready to place on a document.
About this tool
A signature image is what you place in a document when printing, signing and scanning it would take longer than the document deserves: a letter, an invoice, a form in a word processor, the foot of an email. This page makes that image. Sign on the pad with a mouse, a trackpad, a finger or a stylus, and what you drew is redrawn as clean strokes at the size you choose.
If drawing with a mouse gives you a scrawl, type your name instead and pick one of six handwriting typefaces. It will look tidy, though it is a typeface and not your hand: anyone who types the same name gets the same result. For something that has to look like your own signature, sign on a phone or a tablet, where a finger does far better than a mouse.
The download is a PNG with a transparent background by default, so it sits on a document without a white box around it. What you get is a picture of a signature. It is not a digital signature in the technical sense: nothing in it proves who made it or that a document has not been changed. Whether a pasted signature is acceptable is for whoever receives the document to decide.
What you get
- Draw with a mouse, a finger or a stylus
- Or type your name in one of six script typefaces
- Transparent PNG, or a white or coloured background
- Redrawn from your strokes, so it is sharp at any size
- Undo a stroke, or clear and start again
- Your signature never leaves your device
When to use the signature generator
Letters and forms in a word processor
Insert the picture above the printed name in a letter, an application or a consent form, instead of printing and scanning the page.
Invoices and quotations
A signature beside the total on documents sent out as PDF, the same on every one.
Email signatures
A small handwritten sign-off under the typed name gives a mail a personal close.
Certificates and school documents
A principal's or a trainer's signature placed on a batch of certificates in a design program.
Choosing the settings
| For | Ink | Pen thickness | Width |
|---|---|---|---|
| A signature line in a document | Black or dark blue | 3 to 5 | 1000 px |
| An email signature | Dark blue | 4 to 6 | 600 px |
| A certificate or a poster | Black | 5 to 8 | 1600 or 2400 px |
| Initials only | Black | 5 to 7 | 600 px |
How it works
Drawing is recorded as strokes. Each time the pen goes down, the points it passes through are stored with the time they were made, as fractions of the pad's width. Nothing is kept as pixels. When the picture is made, the strokes are drawn again at the size you asked for, as smooth curves through the midpoints of consecutive points, so a signature drawn on a small phone screen is as sharp at 2400 pixels as at 600. The time between points gives the speed of the hand, and the line is made thinner where it moved fast and thicker where it slowed, as ink behaves.
The picture is then cut to the ink: the smallest rectangle that holds every stroke, with a margin of 6% of the width. The guide line and the cross on the pad are not part of it. In the typing mode the name is measured in the chosen typeface, set at the size that makes its ink as wide as the picture, and cut the same way. The typefaces are files on this site, fetched when you choose one, and published under open licences. The background is left transparent in PNG and WebP, and painted with a colour for JPG, which has no transparency.
Common problems and how to fix them
- Nothing appears when I draw
- Drawing needs the pointer held down: keep the mouse button pressed, or the finger on the screen. If the page scrolls instead of drawing on a phone, start the stroke inside the white box.
- The signature is shaky
- Sign faster, or use a finger on a phone instead of a mouse. Undo removes the last stroke, so one part can be redone without starting again.
- There is a white box around the signature in my document
- The file was saved as JPG, or the program it was pasted into does not keep transparency. Download it as PNG with "Transparent background" on, and insert it as a picture instead of copying and pasting.
- The typed name looks like plain text
- The handwriting typeface had not finished loading. Change the style and change it back, or reload the page on a working connection. After its first use the browser keeps it.
Frequently asked questions
Is a signature made here legally valid?
This page cannot tell you that. It makes a picture of a signature. Whether a picture placed in a document counts as signing it depends on the law where you are, the kind of document and the organisation receiving it. Contracts and official filings often require a proper electronic signature service or a signature on paper. Ask the recipient.
Is this a digital signature?
No. A digital signature is a cryptographic seal that ties a document to a certificate and shows if the document is altered afterwards. This is an image, and has none of those properties.
Why does my signature look shaky when I draw it with a mouse?
A mouse is moved with the arm and a pen with the fingers, so the fine control is missing. Sign more quickly than feels natural, which smooths the line, or open this page on a phone and sign with a finger. Undo removes the last stroke if one goes wrong.
How do I put the signature into a PDF or a Word document?
Download the PNG and insert it as a picture: in Word or Google Docs with Insert, then Picture; in most PDF editors with an "Add image" or "Stamp" tool. Because the background is transparent, it can sit over a signature line.
Is my signature stored or sent anywhere?
No. The strokes are kept in the page's memory while it is open, and are gone when you close or reload it. The picture is made by your browser, and nothing is sent to a server.
Can I sign with a stylus or an Apple Pencil?
Yes. The pad takes a mouse, a finger or a pen alike. The line's thickness follows how fast you move, not how hard you press: pen pressure is not read.
Which is better, drawing or typing?
Drawing gives a signature that is yours. Typing gives a neat one that anyone could produce by typing your name. Where the signature is meant to identify you, draw it.