Here's a guide on how to sign documents on your Mac.

In today 's digital age, signing documents is becoming less and less common as many companies have their documentation available as PDFs or other digital formats .

There's a way to sign documents sent to you even if you do n't have a printer and scanner handy to do the job. You can sign documents directly with Preview using Markup in macOS.

How to sign documents on Mac

Here are the steps to get a signature recorded in markup and sign documents.

Watch the video above for more information on digitally signing documents on your Mac.

Using preview and markup to sign documents

When someone sends you a PDF document that requires your Signature or authorization, you will often print the document, make your signature, and then scan the document to the recipient. However with the Markup tool in Preview and your Mac camera you can digitally sign without printing the document once.

When you open your PDF file requiring your signature, you also need to have an Empty sheet of paper and a pen to sign. You'll basically be signing the paper, scanning that signature into the markup, and then typesetting into your PDF to create the signed deed.

After signing your blank piece of paper with your signature, you will need to use Markup to enter the signature into your document. Click the markup icon to review the tools in the drop-down menu. Choose the Sign icon, then click Create Signature. You can sign using a trackpad or by scanning a signed paper with the camera.

If you are using a touchpad you can certainly try signing again if you have a piece of paper available, this is my preferred method and will generally read the most authentic on the final document. Write your signature on the blank sheet of paper then hold it up to your Mac's camera . You will see a line to guide where the bottom of the signature should sit and once it gets a good scan it will be I accept the signature.

If you are happy with how it looks in the preview, you should now be able to use this signature from your Markup menu on subsequent documents. You can click and resize the signature to fit properly on your document, then save the PDF and you're done. You can also add Appointments and any other handwritten information to a PDF file in the exact same fashion . Write legibly on a sheet of paper, then scan in the markup to use.

I have used this countless times in a bind when a printer is not readily available and have never had a problem with the authenticity of the signature. It looks like the document was printed and signed, but it was able to be done entirely digitally thanks to the Markup extension!