“If you can just fill out and sign this PDF and send it back to me”…..
Have you ever been asked to do this but unsure how? Nowadays with more people working remotely from home, printed out paper documents are a thing of the past and businesses are taking a more paperless approach. This not only has an environmental impact, but also makes the process a lot quicker and easier with people able to complete a form and return it in a couple of minutes.
Below is a guide for how to fill out a PDF on your devices
How to fill out your PDF form on a Windows PC:
1) Open the PDF document or form in Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader available here – https://get.adobe.com/uk/reader/
2) Click Fill & Sign in the right pane so the Fill & Sign options are displayed.
3) Click Fill and Sign. The specific tools and options are displayed in the toolbar. Use them to fill out your form.
4) Hover the mouse over a form field and if you see a blue box, that means the form is fillable or interactive – it contains fields that you can select or fill in. Click anywhere in the blue box, the cursor is placed at the right position automatically. Type your text to complete the field. Similarly, for a checkbox or a radio button, click in the field to select the option.
5) Hover the mouse over a form field and if you see no blue box, that means it’s a flat form. You can still manually fill or add text.
How to sign or initial your form on a Windows PC:
To sign a PDF form, you can type, draw, or insert an image of your handwritten signature or initials.
1) Open the PDF document or form in Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader available here – https://get.adobe.com/uk/reader/, and click Fill & Sign in the right pane.
2) Click the Sign icon in the Fill & Sign toolbar, and then choose whether you want to add your signature or just initials.
If you have already added signatures or initials, they are displayed as options to choose from.
3) If you’ve already added your signature or initials, just select it from the Sign options, and then click at the place in the PDF where you want to add your signature. Skip to the next step.
If you are signing for the first time, you see the Signature or Initials panel. Below is an example of the Signature panel.
You can choose to type, draw, or import a signature image. Added signatures and initials are saved for future use.
• Type: Type your name in the field. You can choose from a small selection of signature styles; click Change Style to view a different style.
• Draw: Draw your signature in the field.
• Image: Browse and select an image of your signature.
• Save Signature: When this check box is selected, and you’re signed in to Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader, the added signature is saved securely in Adobe Document Cloud for reuse.
Click Apply, and then click at the place in the PDF where you want to place the signature or initial.
4) To move the placed signature or initial, click the field to highlight it and then use the arrow keys. To resize or delete the field, use the options in field toolbar.
How to Sign a Document using an Apple Mac
1) To sign PDFs, you can capture your signature using your trackpad, the built-in camera on your Mac, or your iPad or iPhone in the Preview App
2) In the Preview app on your Mac, click on the Show Markup Toolbar button, if this toolbar isn’t showing you can just click the Sign button.
3) Follow the instructions to create and save your signature.
• Trackpad Signature: Click Trackpad, click the text as prompted, sign your name on the trackpad using your finger or stylus, press any key, then click Done. If you don’t how the signature has shown you can click clear and then retry.
If your Mac has a Force Touch trackpad, you can press your finger more firmly on the trackpad to sign with a heavier, darker line.
• Computer Camera: Draw your signature on a piece of white paper, then click camera, hold your signature facing the camera so that your signature is level with the blue line. When your signature appears in the window, click the done button. If you don’t like the results, click clear and then redraw your signature until you are happy with the end result.
• iPhone or iPad: On your iPhone or iPad, use your finger or Apple Pencil to sign your name, then click Done. If you don’t like the results, click clear and then redraw your signature.
4) Click the Sign button, then click the signature to add it to your PDF.
5) Choose the signature you want to use, drag it to where you want it, then use the handles to adjust the size.
How to sign a PDF on a Mobile Device
1) Download the Adobe Reader app from your device’s app store, available here – https://www.adobe.com/uk/acrobat/mobile/acrobat-reader.html. This app is free to download and won’t use up much space on your mobile device.
2) Once downloaded, open it, and go through the initial setup. When it’s ready, open your PDF in the app. You can do this by selecting the PDF and then opening it in the Adobe Reader app.
3) Tap the pen icon at the bottom right of the app screen, then tap “Fill & Sign?”
4) Tap the fountain pen icon, then tap “Create Signature”
5) Sign with your finger in the “Sign Here” area, then tap “Done.” You can turn your phone horizontally if you need a larger space to sign your name.
6) Tap the fountain pen icon again, then tap the signature you just created.
7) Tap anywhere on the PDF to place the signature. Tap and hold your finger down on the signature, and then drag it to where you’d like it permanently set. You can also change the colour of the signature by selecting the colour circles.
8) Now tap the check mark at the top-left corner and you’re done. The PDF can then be exported via email, text, and more.
