How to add text, initials, date, and signature fields to a PDF

The tool at esignmypdf.com/sign supports five basic annotation types: text, signature, comment, highlight, and (as a special case) initials. Combined, they let you turn any PDF into a fillable form, mark up a document for review, or sign a contract — all without uploading the file or installing anything.

This guide covers each type, when to use which, and the small details that make the result look polished rather than slapped together.

What you can add

All of these bake into the final PDF as standard annotations — they open and behave correctly in any PDF reader.

Text

The T Text tool is the most-used annotation type. It places typed text wherever you click on the page.

How to add text

1. Click T Text in the toolbar. The button stays active.
2. Click on the page where you want the text to appear. A text field opens at that spot.
3. Type your text. Adjust the font, size, and colour from the popup that appears.
4. Click outside the field to commit. The text is now part of the document.

When to use text

• Filling in name, address, or other information on a form line.
• Adding a typed date.
• Typing initials (faster than drawing them on every page).
• Adding a note or annotation visible inline with the document content.
• Anywhere you want typed information rather than handwriting.

Font choices

The text tool offers a few fonts. Choose one that fits the document's style:

• Use a clean sans-serif (the default) for most form fills — it's neutral and readable.
• Use a serif font if the underlying document is in a serif and you want consistency.
• Use a handwriting-style font sparingly — it can look unprofessional for serious documents.

Signature

The signature tool produces a drawn or typed signature you can place anywhere on the document.

How to add a signature

1. Click ✒ Signatures in the toolbar. A panel opens with three options.
2. Choose Draw, Type, or Upload:
   • Draw: sign with mouse, trackpad, or finger. The line smooths slightly as you draw.
   • Type: type your name and pick a signature-style font. Looks cleaner on mobile.
   • Upload: use a PNG of an existing signature. Useful if you've signed paper before and have a clean scan.
3. Drag the signature from the panel onto the page where it belongs.
4. Resize by dragging the corners. Reposition by dragging the middle.
5. You can place multiple copies — useful for documents that need a signature in several places.

Saving your signature

The last signature you used is saved to your browser's local storage. Next time you open the tool, it's already there — you don't have to redraw it. To clear it, use the Clear Saved button in the toolbar.

Initials

Initials aren't a separate annotation type — they're either a small signature or short typed text. Two ways to add them:

Method 1: Typed initials

Use the T Text tool, click where the initials go, type your initials (e.g., "JS"), and pick a clean font. This is faster for documents that need initials on many pages.

Method 2: Drawn initials as a small signature

Use the Signatures tool, draw a small version of your initials, save it, and place it on each page where required. Looks more handwriting-style.

For multi-page contracts that need initials on every page, typed initials are usually faster and cleaner. For documents where each page has been carefully designed (a will, a deed), drawn initials feel more in keeping.

Date

The tool doesn't have a separate date annotation — dates are typed text, added with the T Text tool.

How to add a date

1. Click T Text.
2. Click where the date goes.
3. Type the date in the format the document expects: MM/DD/YYYY (US), DD/MM/YYYY (most other countries), DD Month YYYY (formal), YYYY-MM-DD (ISO).
4. Click outside to commit.

Date format tips

• Match the format the rest of the document uses. If other dates are MM/DD/YYYY, follow suit.
• Spell out the month if the document doesn't specify a format — eliminates ambiguity (05/06/2026 could be May 6 or June 5 depending on the reader's convention).
• For legal documents, the safer convention is "11 May 2026" rather than a numeric-only date.

Comment

Comments attach a note to a specific point on the document. They appear as a small marker; clicking the marker shows the comment text.

How to add a comment

1. Click 💬 Comment in the toolbar.
2. Click on the page where the comment should attach.
3. A small comment marker appears, with a text field.
4. Type your note. The first time, you'll be asked for your author name — used as the comment author throughout the session.
5. Click outside the comment field to commit.

When to use comments

• Marking up a document for someone else to review ("Please confirm this date").
• Leaving notes for yourself when reading a long document.
• Pointing out specific clauses in a contract you want a counterparty to address.

Comments survive in the downloaded PDF and show up in any standard PDF reader that supports annotations.

Highlight

Highlights apply a coloured background to selected text on the PDF.

How to highlight

1. Just select the text on the page using your mouse or finger — the same way you'd select text in a web page.
2. A popup appears with colour options (yellow, green, pink, cyan, and others). Pick one.
3. The highlight applies. You can adjust the opacity from the popup.
4. Click the highlight again later to delete or modify it.

When to use highlights

• Marking specific passages in a contract for the other party's attention.
• Studying — highlighting key passages in a reading.
• Annotating a research paper before reading more deeply.

Note: highlighting only works on selectable text. If the PDF is a scan or has its text as images, the highlight tool won't be able to detect text to colour — you'd use a different approach (like adding a coloured rectangle over the area, which isn't currently a direct feature).

Editing, moving, deleting

Annotations aren't fixed once placed. You can:

• Move them. Click and drag any annotation to a new position.
• Resize them. Drag the corners of signatures or text boxes.
• Edit text. Click on a text box to re-enter edit mode.
• Change font or colour. Click on a text box, then adjust from the popup.
• Delete. Click an annotation to select it, then press Delete or use the delete button in the popup.
• Undo / redo. Use ↩ Undo and ↪ Redo in the toolbar for any of the above. Multiple levels of history are kept.

Saving and downloading

While you're working, your in-progress annotations are saved to your browser's local storage automatically. If you close the tab and come back to the same PDF, your annotations restore.

When you're done:

1. Click ⬇ Download PDF in the toolbar.
2. The tool bakes your annotations into a fresh PDF using PDFLib (running entirely in your browser).
3. Your browser saves the new file to your downloads folder.

The downloaded PDF has all annotations as standard PDF annotation objects, viewable and (mostly) editable in any PDF reader. To "lock" them so a recipient can't easily change them, you can flatten the PDF using a separate tool — though for most purposes, the standard form is fine.

Tips for a clean result

• Zoom in for precise placement. Use the + button or pinch-zoom; small misalignments are much easier to fix at high zoom.
• Match the document's typography. Pick text fonts that complement the PDF's design rather than fighting it.
• Keep signatures appropriately sized. A signature that fills half the page looks ridiculous; one that's tiny and hard to read looks careless. Aim for natural proportions — about the same size you'd sign on paper.
• Use one font for all your text annotations on a single document. Consistency reads as intentional.
• Don't over-annotate. A heavily-marked-up contract is harder for the other party to read. Stick to what's essential.
• Review at full zoom before downloading. Check that nothing is overlapping, misaligned, or out of bounds.
• Save a copy somewhere safe. The tool deletes nothing — the file is on your machine — but having a backup of important signed documents is always wise.

For more on how the tool works overall, see the features page. For specific use cases, our other guides cover signing on a phone, filling forms, and signing common contract types like NDAs and leases.