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. Close the PDF-there’s no need to save it.When you have a good signature, tap Done.If you don’t like your signature, tap Clear and try again.(You can rotate an iPhone to landscape orientation if that’s easier.) In the New Signature panel, sign your name.Tap Add or Remove Signature and then tap + to add a signature.In the Markup toolbar, tap + and then Signature.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.

How to create your signature