
iPhone or iPad: Click Select Device and pick an available iPhone or iPad.For best results, use a full-size piece of paper and a fairly thick pen, like a Sharpie. Hold it up to the camera, just above the blue line, for automatic recognition. Camera: Sign your name with a black pen on a white piece of paper.(Tip: press any key to start and clear too.) Press any key on the keyboard when you’re done, or click Clear and try again if necessary. Trackpad: Click the Click Here to Begin button and sign your name with your finger or a rubber-tipped stylus-after you click, lift your finger or stylus and start writing your signature at the left side of the trackpad.Click Trackpad, Camera, or iPhone or iPad to create your signature:.(You can also click the Signatures button on the Markup toolbar.) Choose Tools > Annotate > Signature > Manage Signatures.Open any PDF in Preview, such as the aforementioned IRS Form 1040.The trackpad approach is the least successful. You’ll get the best results from using the camera to scan your signature on a piece of paper, with an iPad and Apple Pencil as the next best. On a Mac, you create signatures in Preview in one of several different ways.

Tap the share icon and tap Markup in the share sheet.Open any PDF in any app, such as this IRS Form 1040 in Safari.You can create a signature on an iPad or iPhone with your finger or a rubber-tipped stylus, but you’ll get the best results with an Apple Pencil on an iPad. Create Your Signature on an iPad or iPhone The process varies a little depending on which Apple devices you have available. Even better, it syncs automatically to all your other Apple devices signed in to the same iCloud account, so it’s available wherever you need it. It’s not difficult to set up, and once your signature is in the system, it remains available for repeated use. Happily, Apple has made it easy to digitize your signature such that you can quickly apply it to digital documents without them ever hitting paper. But what if you need to send it back via email or another online method? You could print, sign, scan, and return the scanned document, but that’s both tedious and wasteful. If you need to return a signed document on paper, it’s easy to print and sign it before popping it in the mailbox.

Over the last decade, and particularly during the last year of pandemic life, documents have become more likely to arrive in email or as downloads than on paper.
