Sign Pdf With Mac Preview App

Posted on  by 

  1. Sign Pdf With Mac Preview Application
  2. Preview App For Mac

Download PDF Reader Pro - Edit,Sign PDF for macOS 10.12 or later and enjoy it on your Mac. ‎PDF Reader Pro is a PDF powerhouse that will fulfill all your document needs. Building on solid features such as Annotation, Edit, Form filling, OCR, Convert, Create, Sign, Bookmark and protect your PDF files, PDF Reader Pro allows you to maneuver.

Was going to start a new thread on this, but will just bump yours: annotations has been broken in Preview since the High Sierra update (the older thread here: Re: preview.app pdf annotation bug). Had hoped the 10.13.3 update would have a new preview build, but it seems we've been on 10.0 (944.4) for a while now, and previous versions in High Sierra had the same problem.


  1. When Mac OS X Yosemite launched back in 2014, Mail gained the ability to sign documents, such as PDF forms, digitally. It works almost exactly the same as in Preview.
  2. How to sign a PDF on Mac with Preview. To add an electronic signature to a PDF document using Apple Preview, follow the steps below: Locate the PDF document you want to sign. Right-click and select Open with and Preview. Click the Show Markup Tool icon (of a blue tip of a pen in a small circle) and select the Sign button. Follow the on-screen.

My own annoyance with this — in addition to note annotations vanishing — is that every time I open a previously annotated pdf (whether it is highlighted, underlined, etc.), Preview decides the file has just been edited. Since I work with a large number of pdf files with notes and annotations, date modified is a handy way of organizing. Yes, I can tell Preview to revert back to previously saved version ('are you sure?' yes I'm sure), but I then have to close the file very quickly before the app becomes convinced it has just edited it again. And yes, I can use a file property editor to manually change the date modified, but the next time I open the file to read, it will be re-'edited' again.


Oh, also, if you drag a page from one pdf into another pdf — one of Preview's wonderfully handy features over the last years —, the 'alien' page cannot be bookmarked. Try it! It often will bookmark one of the earlier pages in the document instead.


The work-around I've adopted is re-annotating and then print-saving as a new pdf, which fixes the annotations in stone, as it were (that is, they are no longer seen as annotations but permanent 'fixtures'). Then reinsert my bookmarks from scratch. Then edit file properties to 'real' modification date. Needless to say this is very time-consuming, laborious, and was entirely unnecessary before High Sierra.

Mark up PDFs

Use the markup toolbar in Preview to add text and comments, sign documents, highlight text, and more. To show the markup toolbar, click the Show Markup Toolbar button at the top of the window, or choose View > Show Markup Toolbar.

Add text

In most PDFs, you can simply click a text field, then type to enter text in the field.

If you can't add text to a field, use a text box instead:

Sign Pdf With Mac Preview Application

  • Click the Text button in the markup toolbar, or choose Tools > Annotate > Text.
  • To show font, size, and color options for text in a text box, click the Text Style button in the markup toolbar.
  • To move the text box, just drag it.

Highlight text

Sign Pdf With Mac Preview App

To turn highlight mode on or off, click the Highlight button in the toolbar. When highlight mode is on, highlights appear when you select text.

  • To change the highlight color or switch to strikethrough or underline, click next to the Hightlight button , then choose an option.
  • To remove a highlight, Control-click the text, then choose Remove Highlight.

Add notes

To add a note, click the Note button in the markup toolbar, or choose Tools > Annotate > Note.

  • To close the note, click outside the note box. You can move notes anywhere on the document.
  • To open a note, click the note box.
  • To see all notes and highlights, choose View > Highlights and Notes.

Add your signature

  1. Click the Sign button in the markup toolbar, or choose Tools > Annotate > Signature.
  2. Click Create Signature, then choose whether to use your trackpad, built-in camera, or iOS device to create a signature:
    • Click Trackpad, then use your trackpad to sign your name with your finger. If you have a Force Touch trackpad, you can press harder on the trackpad to sign with a darker line. After you sign your name, press any key on the keyboard.
    • Click Camera, then sign your name on white paper and hold it up to the camera. Your Mac will automatically scan the signature and show it in the Camera window.
    • Click iPhone (or iPad or iPod touch), then sign your name on your device's screen when prompted. Learn more about using iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch to sketch in or mark up documents.
  3. Click Done.
  4. Choose your signature to add it to the document. You can move and resize it anywhere on the document.

Edit images

  • Crop: Drag to select the crop area, then choose Tools > Crop.
  • Rotate: Choose Tools > Rotate Left or Rotate Right.
  • Adjust color: Choose Tools > Adjust Color, then drag a slider to make an adjustment.
  • Adjust size: Choose Tools > Adjust Size, enter the desired dimensions, then click OK.
  • Get quick access to edit controls: Click the Show Markup Toolbar button at the top of the window.

Preview App For Mac

Share and export

  • To share your file, click the Share button , or choose File > Share. Then choose an option.
  • To save your document or image in a different format, choose File > Export, choose a format, then click Save.

Learn more

Coments are closed