One of my favorite features in our new Nitro Reader product is the Stamp Signature tool. It allows you to quickly apply your handwritten signature to any electronic file. Any PDF file (security allowing) or any other file you can convert to PDF (using the free creation capabilities in Nitro Reader) can be stamped with your own signature.
Why would you need to apply your handwritten signature? Simply because you can drastically reduce the time it takes to approve, sign and deliver your signed document. The typical scenario requires printing out and signing the document by hand, then rescanning to send it via Email, or sending it via the traditional postal service. Now you can sign and send your document without ever removing your hand from your mouse! Actually, you might rejoice by throwing your hands in the air, so don’t take my word for it.
fig.1 - Stamping a signature onto a PDF form
Creating your Signature Stamp
The one requirement to start using the Stamp Signature is to get a copy of your handwritten signature onto the computer running Nitro PDF Reader. This is easy if you have a scanner:
- Using a dark pen, sign a clean white sheet of paper (without lines).
- Scan the paper and crop out the area around the signature.
- Save your scanned signature as an image file (such as JPG, TIF, GIF, or PDF)
- In Nitro Reader, under the Stamp Signature button, click Create New Signature.
- Click Browse to locate the image file containing your signature, and then click OK.
- Give a name to your signature, and assign a password if necessary, then click save.
- Nitro Reader will automatically remove the white background, leaving you with a signature on a transparent background that can be applied over any color background or objects (such as lines).
Of course not all of us own a scanner, and that got me thinking. Can I use my iPhone, or any phone with a decent camera, to snap my signature? The answer is yes, but a bit more effort is required to clearly capture the signature. In essence, you need to make sure the signature is well lit when shooting an image of it with your phone.
This is required because of the way Nitro Reader handles your signature once it’s imported. When a signature is added to Reader, it automatically scans the image for the white pixels (background content) and discards them, leaving just your handwritten signature. This means you can stamp your signature over page content — different background colours and objects such as lines, boxes, and fields — and it will realistically show behind the empty spaces of your signature’s pen strokes. When using a mobile phone, one must understand that the quality of the image solely depends on the phone itself. When testing this method with my iPhone, I used the free edition of JotNot (downloadable from the App Store) to crop and clean up the image.
- Using a dark pen, sign a clean white sheet of paper (without lines).
- Ensure that the page is very well lit (perhaps with a desklamp), and that the signature boldly contrasts the paper.
- Use your phone to snap a close-up (as close as focusing allows) image of the signature.
- Send the image via Blutetooth or Email to the computer running Nitro Reader.
- In Nitro Reader, under the Stamp Signature button, click Create New Signature.
- Click Browse to locate the image file containing your signature, and then click OK.
- Give a name to your signature, and assign a password if necessary, then click save.
- Nitro Reader will automatically remove the white background, leaving you with a signature on a transparent background that can be applied over any color background or objects (such as lines).
fig.2 - Page elements clearly appearing behind a signature
Getting a crisp copy of your signature onto your computer is the only part of the process that requires some effort. Once your signature is loaded into Nitro Reader it is dead simple to drop it onto a page, resize it, then double-click it to finalize the stamp. You can store as many signatures as you need in Nitro Reader, and you can also passwordprotect them to prevent your kids from using them to sign their report cards. Remember, do not double-click your signature if you might need to move or change it. Saving the file with a finalized signature makes permanent changes to the PDF which cannot be undone. This is a security measure to prevent other people from saving a copy of your signature from a PDF document.
