How to sign a PDF without printing it

The print-sign-scan loop is one of the last office rituals that survived the move to digital. It costs a trip to a printer, produces a crooked scan, and still ends with someone emailing a 4 MB attachment. None of that is necessary: a signature you add on screen is as valid in most jurisdictions as one you add with a pen, provided you can show who signed and when.

Here is how to do it in Ettex PDF, and what to do when the document needs a second signature.

Sign a PDF in five steps

1. Open PDF in Ettex and click Upload PDF in the left rail to bring in the file you were sent. If you are starting from scratch instead, pick one of the templates — NDA, offer letter, lease, invoice and the rest.
2. Fill in the fields. On a template, the left panel lists every field and the preview updates as you type, with a percentage showing how much is left.
3. In the Signature box, click the Sign as … button, which carries the name from your account. Your signature lands on the signature line, next to today's date.
4. Press Download and choose Save as PDF in the print dialog. You now have a signed file.
5. If somebody else has to sign too, press Send for signature instead, enter their email, and let Ettex track the rest.

Nothing is uploaded to sign a document. The file is stored on your device and only leaves it when you explicitly share it or send it for signature.

When the other side has to sign

A signature request is where most workflows fall apart — the PDF goes out by email, gets signed on a phone, comes back as a photo, and nobody can say which version is final. Sending it for signature keeps one document and one history instead.

After you send it, the document shows up in Sign with a clear status: Awaiting your signature, Awaiting others, Completed or Declined. You can resend the request, copy the signing link, nudge the other party with a reminder, or cancel it. When everyone has signed, the document is marked Completed and the signature list is sealed.

What makes an electronic signature hold up

• Intent — the signer took a deliberate action to sign, not just opened the file.
• Attribution — the signature is tied to an identifiable person, usually through the account and email address used.
• Integrity — the signed document cannot be changed afterwards without it being visible.
• A record — a trail showing who signed, in what order, and when.

Ettex records all four for you: signing is an explicit action, signers are identified by their account and email, the completed document is locked, and the signature list travels with the document. For most business paperwork — NDAs, offers, service agreements, invoices, receipts — that is exactly what is expected. A handful of document types, such as wills or certain property deeds, still require a handwritten signature or a notary; check local rules before you rely on an electronic one.

Small habits that save the most time

• Start from a template rather than a blank file — the fields, the signature line and the date block are already in place.
• Save a draft before you sign; unsigned documents live under Drafts and signed ones under Signed, so you always know what is outstanding.
• Star the agreements you reuse — they show up under Favorites across the whole of Ettex, not just in PDF.
• Use Ctrl+K (Cmd+K) to jump straight to a new document instead of navigating there.

The whole point is that signing paperwork should take a couple of minutes and leave a trail you can find later. Open the PDF app, fill it, sign it, send it — and leave the printer out of it.