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TUAW's Daily Mac App: PDF Signer

by Samuel Gibbs May 31st 2011 at 3:00PM

PDF Signer for Mac

These days almost all forms are distributed online as PDFs. However, when you need to sign one, you normally need to print it and scan it back in for an email, or even worse, use a fax. Luckily, there are apps for that.

PDF Signer allows you to fill out and sign PDF forms. You can enter text in any pre-defined text boxes the form might have, but if the form isn't that advanced, you can enter text in text boxes of your own creation anywhere on the PDF using the "Add Text" tool.

Once you've filled in all the relevant information, now comes the tricky bit -- getting the form signed. Unfortunately, there is no direct signing support within PDF Signer. Instead you have to overlay an image file of your signature, which you've created elsewhere, on the form. Once you've selected the appropriate image, you can resize it to fit the box and save or print the PDF.

If you've got an image file of your signature handy, PDF signer makes short work of signing PDF forms. But given that you can enter text on PDFs using OS X's Preview, I would have liked to see some sort of tablet or trackpad support for creating a signature, not just inserting an image overlay.

PDF Signer is available from the Mac App Store for $9.99.

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These days almost all forms are distributed online as PDFs. However, when you need to sign one, you normally need to print it and scan...
 

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15 Comments

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Gordon B

I tried the demo and it was precisely what I was looking for!! Highly recommended!

June 01 2011 at 3:33 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
HacksForMac

Good read Samuel!

We were pretty skeptical about the value before we gave it a review, but after a couple of weeks at the office it proved to be very useful. This app tops our previous PC-Favorite PDF X-change view.

Like many apps on the iphone/ipad - PDF Signer streamlines a process that otherwise would require multiple steps or applications. The ability to add text (missing with formulate-pro), sorting & deleting PDF Pages, no-annotations approach, and the email-friendly PDF size result, are exactly what we needed to complete the process of filling out agreements and forms without printing and scanning. PDFPen / Acrobat also offer these features for a much higher price. We were looking to only process legal docs and forms, and it was right on.

For improvement - we join the comments to include the new Lion sig-scan feature when it comes out, this will be a great built-in feature, especially since Apple doesn't plan to allow you to add text to PDFs yet etc.

June 01 2011 at 2:53 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
chris blackmore

Been doing it for free for years... well if you count the cost of Pages, which has paid for itself tenfold over the years.

New blank canvas

insert "pdf of your choice"

Insert "scanned signature tiff, no background"

Resize and print to pdf...

May 31 2011 at 10:00 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
David Schloss

Am I the only one that thinks it's odd that they reviewed an app called PDF Signer that is missing the ability to sign the PDF in the document?

May 31 2011 at 9:56 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to David Schloss's comment
Kleinias

No you're definitely not the only one. I'm not being critical but I'm a little bemused about "PDF Signer" being the TUAW's daily Mac App, when it doesn't actually allow you to sign your name and it costs around $10.

May 31 2011 at 11:03 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
PSTMD

I don't see any added value to Adobe Acrobat. I can insert text in several ways and paste in my signature. Acrobat has been able to do this for years.

Of course, Acrobat costs a lot more than $10

May 31 2011 at 5:00 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jane Epperson

$9.99 is pretty steep for functionality that's about to be free in Lion or included in other much more capable apps such as PDFPen, etc. 99 cents might be more in line with what you get here...

May 31 2011 at 4:55 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Rock

"save or print the PDF" - I think if I were prepared to print it in the first place, would I bother with this?

May 31 2011 at 4:11 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Christopher

I use PDFPen or Preview and Autograph.

http://tenonedesign.com/autograph.php

May 31 2011 at 4:10 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Thomas

In the meantime, the free Formulate Pro at http://code.google.com/p/formulatepro/ can easily add signatures images that you've created elsewhere. Just go to "Place Image," resize the signature as needed, and then print your PDF as a PDF.

May 31 2011 at 4:10 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Thomas's comment
Brian

Seconded, and its FRREEEE!

May 31 2011 at 9:07 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
UltimateBuilder

Or you can use Zosh, by YouSendIt for free. You can even sign right in the app. iPhone and iPad compatible.

May 31 2011 at 4:04 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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