How to add a signature to a PDF on a Mac using an iPhone or iPad
macOS Catalina adds the ability for documents, such as PDFs to be signed by drawing a signature using an iPhone or an iPad running either iOS 13 or iPadOS, alleviating the need to roughly, and often inaccurately, scribble a signature on the Trackpad of the Mac.
Apple has long allowed documents to be signed using Markup tools on iOS, though with macOS Catalina Apple is making it even easier to add a signature when viewing a document on the Mac by showing a list of your iOS and iPadOS devices within Preview, then allowing that device to act as “the dotted line” for you to draw you signature on.
Preview still offers the option to use the Trackpad to create a signature, or scan a piece of paper which has your signature, though this new option certainly makes annotating a document much easier.
How to add a signature to a PDF on a Mac using an iPhone or iPad
- Open Preview on your Mac and select Tools from the Menu Bar at the very top of the screen
- From the Tools drop-down menu, select Annotate and Manage Signatures
- Here a small window will open, press Create Signature and select the iPhone or iPad option
- A button will appear asking you to Select Device, and from here choose the device you wish to use to draw your signature
- Unlock the device you selected and a simple signature interface will show, where you can sign with a finger on the iPhone or a finger or Apple Pencil on iPad
- Once you’ve drawn your signature you’ll have the option to save it by pressing Done, or start again by pressing Clear
After you’ve saved your signature, it will appear instantly in the Preview app on the Mac for you to simply insert into the document you wish to annotate.