How to use it
- Sign on plain white paper with a dark pen, black or blue.
- Take a photo from straight above in good light, with the signature filling most of the picture.
- Tap “Choose photo” and pick it. Tap Rotate if it's sideways, and choose black or blue ink.
- Tap “Create signature”, keep PNG selected and pick 600 or 1200 px wide.
- Tap “Download PNG”.
How the paper disappears
The photo is cleaned the same way as in our exam signature tool. It works out which parts are paper and which are ink, even when the paper looks a little grey or one side is darker. The paper becomes fully transparent and the ink is kept with smooth edges. The ink is evened out to one colour, black or blue, so a light ballpoint signature comes out clear. Finally it is trimmed to the signature with a small margin.
Get a clean result
- Plain white paper. The lines on ruled notebook paper are dark too, so they are kept as ink. The back of a printout works well.
- A dark pen. A black or blue ball pen or gel pen, not a pencil.
- Even light. Daylight from a window is best. Avoid the flash and the shadow of your phone or hand: a dark shadow can be mistaken for ink.
- Only the paper in the picture. Anything else that is dark, like the table edge, other writing or a stamp, is treated as ink. Move closer so the signature fills most of the photo.
- Sideways photo? Tap Rotate before you create the signature.
Real transparency, not a picture of squares
Many signature images found online show a grey-and-white checkerboard that is actually painted into the picture, so the squares show up on your document. Here the squares appear only in the preview, to show you which parts are see-through. They aren't in the file. To check, put the PNG on a coloured page: only the ink should show.
Put it in Word or Google Docs
- Word: Insert → Pictures → This Device, and choose the PNG. Then Picture Format → Wrap Text → In Front of Text, and drag it onto the line. It goes in about 5 cm wide; drag a corner to resize it.
- Google Docs: Insert → Image → Upload from computer. Click the image, choose “In front of text” and drag it into place.
- PDF: use Sign PDF, which has the same Photo option and places the signature on the page for you.
Need it on white instead?
Choose JPG for a plain white background, for upload boxes that don't accept PNG. For exam forms that want an exact size and KB, such as 140 × 60 px and 10–20 KB, use Signature Resize. No paper or pen at hand? Draw or type a signature on the Signature Maker page.
Your photo stays on your phone
The photo is cleaned inside your browser. It is never uploaded, and neither the photo nor your signature is saved anywhere. Remember that this is still a picture of your signature, not a digital signature (DSC).