Save Time When Signing PDF Documents

Did you know that programs like Adobe Acrobat and Nitro PDF are capable of doing TWO types of signatures? Most people know about the electronic signature (which is the best way to digitally sign a document outside of a service like DocuSign or DotLoop) but there is another method I like even better.

I use Acrobat and at first, I was signing documents in Acrobat by creating my own digital signature and then attaching an image to the signature. Adobe Acrobat will use the signature image anywhere you place the digital signature so everything will look normal when it is printed. While this works, it is a LOT of work to setup. First you have to generate a public and private key and then import them into Acrobat, etc, etc. In addition to being a lot of work, it can be a little confusing when someone is looking at the PDF file.

While I love the digital signature idea, I just don’t know enough REALTORS who could actually use it. So what other options do you have? There is another feature in Acrobat and Nitro PDF called “stamps”. This is a way to stamp parts of the document with an image like “Confidential”, or “Sign Here”, etc. Simply select the stamp and then you can go through your document just like you would with a rubber stamp.

The best part about the stamps feature is that you can import an image file and use it as a stamp. If your signature image has a transparent background, then it lets you sign on a line without covering it up. Here is a step by step process for creating a signature image file using Acrobat. The process is very similar in Nitro PDF. All you need is a piece of paper, a permanent marker, a scanner and your PDF software.

1. Using a black Sharpie permanent marker, sign your name on a white piece of paper. Make it larger than normal (1/3 of the page) to ensure the signature looks clean and crisp.
2. Scan your signature into Adobe Acrobat: File > Create PDF > From Scanner > Grayscale Document
3. When it is done scanning the signature and processing the image, you may find that Acrobat rotates your signature a little. This only happens if your signature is like mine and has a slant to it. To combat this, draw a straight line above the signature and another straight line below the signature and rescan the signature.
4. Now you will need to crop the image so the image only contains your signature: Document > Crop Pages. Here you will use the “Margin Controls” to shrink the box around your signature and the hit “OK” to close the Crop Pages dialog box.
5. Save your signature as a PDF file: File > Save. Don’t forget where you saved the signature.
6. To import your signature as a stamp, go to Tools > Comment & Markup > Stamps > Create Custom Stamp.

That’s it! Now to use your signature, go to Tools > Comment & Markup > Stamps > … and pick your signature stamp. The one downside to this method of scanning and creating a signature is that the image will always have a white background. If you are an advanced computer user and know how to create an image with a transparent background, then you can use that file instead. Now your signature can be placed in the document and look as though you actually signed it.

I am using Adobe Acrobat 9 but this tool exists in most of the older versions. As I mentioned earlier, Nitro PDF has this option and that software costs half of what Adobe Acrobat costs. I hope this tip helps you save time and make your life just a little bit easier. Do you have any great ideas for signing documents? Please share them with us below.