Create signatures in Preview in macOS and add them to documents

Preview has had the ability to capture a signature and insert it into documents for some time. Have you added it yet? Here are two ways to create signatures. Use them to sign documents!.

Sometimes you need to sign forms or letters or other documents, but what if they are PDF files on the computer? How do you sign a PDF? Print it out, sign it and scan it back in? That is crazy! Just use the Preview app to add your signature that has been captured on the Mac using the trackpad or the camera. You can sign forms with a few clicks of the mouse once Preview has been set up.

1 Manage signatures

Open Preview in the Applications folder on the Mac. It does not matter whether a document, PDF or image is opened. In fact, you don't need to open anything at all. Just go to the menu Tools > Annotate > Signature > Manage Signatures.

2 Sign with the trackpad

Make sure the Trackpad tab is selected in the Manage Signatures window that is displayed. A grey box is drawn in the middle and this represents the trackpad.

Click the button in the middle of the Trackpad (the trackpad on the screen, that is), and then sign your name by writing on the Mac's trackpad with your finger. It is a bit awkward because you cannot see what you are doing on the trackpad. However, looking at the screen helps as it shows your writing with a live updated display.

The trackpad only responds to a finger, which is big and fat, and it doesn't like pens, so the results are far from perfect. In fact, my signatures looks about as bad as if I had written it with my left hand and isn't much like my signature using a pen and paper. Still, it is an interesting idea and you can click the Clear button and keep trying until you get a reasonably good signature. It can take a couple of attempts to get right.

3 View your signatures

Click the Done button when you are happy with a signature and it is displayed in a small Manage Signatures window on the desktop. If you move the mouse over the signature, it is highlighted and a delete button appears on the right. Click it to remove a signature.

4 Add a hand-written signature

You can add another signature by clicking the Create Signature button. This time, select the Camera tab and wwe will use the Mac's built in camera to capture a hand-written signature on paper.

Write your signature on a piece of paper - it is best with a thick pen and make it a bit larger than you normally would. Then hold the paper in front of the Mac's camera at the top of the screen. Do not worry that it appears backwards, that is OK, because Preview will reverse it so it is the right way around. It might look very good in the window, but Preview will clean up the image afterwards and it will look much better.

Move the paper and signature around a little in front of the camera and when it is in just the right position, Preview grabs it automatically. You will see it appear in the Manage Signatures window. It separates the ink from the paper and just saves the signature. Click Done to save it.

5 Multiple signatures in Preview

You now have two signatures in the Manage Signatures window. If you only want one, move the mouse over a signature and click the delete button that appears. You might need only one signature, but you could have as many as you need.

6 Select a signature in preview

The signature you created appears on the signature button in Preview's toolbar. If you don't see it, show the toolbar with View > Show Markup Toolbar. Select the signature you want to add to the document by clicking it.

7 Move and size the signature

The signature is inserted into the document and it can be dragged with the mouse to wherever you want to place it. Drag the handles at the corners to make it larger or smaller. Adding a signture gives a document or letter a personal touch and also gives it authority.