Ways to Create a Digital Signature

On By sdcountybar

 By Adriana Linares

Creating a digital signature is almost imperative for working remotely and online these days. Electronic signatures are a convenient, legally binding way to apply your consent to an electronic form or document. Having a copy of your digital signature handy can save time and money as you skip printing and mailing paper or printing, signing and scanning documents.  

To capitalize on this efficient way of executing documents, take a few moments to create a digital signature that you keep in a safe place, and append as needed. There are a variety of ways to create a digital signature. We’ll discuss a few simple, commonly used methods of capturing and saving a digital signature that you can use again and again. You’ll make a copy of your actual signature first and then save it to a file. Once you’ve done that, we’ll talk about how to manipulate the image so that you can remove any background and apply it naturally to any digital document, just like a digital stamp. 

Capture Your Signature 

You have a couple of different options when it comes to capturing your signature. If you are a Mac user, be sure to read this past tech tip on signing documents using Mac Preview. 

Use A High-Resolution Scanner 

  • Sign a white piece of paper and then scan it into your computer as a PDF. Feel free to play around with several different variations of your signature on the same sheet to find one that you are happy with. Choose the best-looking one to crop and use for your file.  
  • Check the specs on your scanner. You’ll want to set it to scan at a high-resolution—that is, it’s at least 600dpi. If the resolution is lower than that, your signature may not be crisp and clear.   
  • Make sure to sign larger than usual. When you shrink your signature down, it will look better that way.  
  • You can use any color ink you would like OR create multiple signatur stamps in multiple colors.  
  • Use felt or gel tip pens for a smooth, flowing signature.  

Capture Your Signature with A Tablet or Touch Screen 

  • If you have an iPad, Microsoft Surface, or similar tablet device with a touchscreen, you can draw your signature with the stylus (like an Apple Pencil). 
  • One of the easiest ways to do this is using an App, like My Signature or Autograph, to capture your signature. Then you can export it via email or Dropbox to use it elsewhere. 
  • Alternatively, you can use a drawing app like Paper by Bamboo or Procreate. Write your signature on the screen and save the image or copy it to the clipboard. Images that are saved in drawing apps are automatically stored in the camera roll for future use or exported via email. 

Crop, Create, and Save as a PNG 

You may need to complete a few more steps to polish your image on a computer so that you wind up with a transparent copy of your digital signature.   

Crop 

  • Open the scanned image of your signature on your desktop. PDF’s will open in Adobe. You can also use Microsoft Word or Paint to open scanned images. 
  • In Windows 10, you’ll look for the ‘snipping tool’ by searching in your taskbar.  
  • Select the image carefully using the snipping tool then release the mouse. 

Create 

  • Choose to save your image as an image file.  
  • You may also need to straighten the image so that it is level and will show up as you would like it to appear on a horizontal line. 

Make the background transparent 

  • Open a blank presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint (unless you have Adobe Photoshop). 
  • Insert the image that you just saved.  
  • If necessary, use the ‘correction’ tools to sharpen the image.  
  • Resize the image so that it is larger and easier to work with. 
  • Use the ‘color’ tool and choose to ‘set transparent color.’ Click any white spaces that you would like to become transparent. Pay special attention to any loops as you’ll need to click them individually.  
  • Once you’ve selected each white space and set it to transparent, right-click and choose to ‘save as image.’ 
  • Save the image as a .PNG file in a location that you can access it.  

Then feel free to apply your signature as needed to your Word documents. You can even create a custom stamp in Adobe Acrobat to sign PDFs. 

It is relatively simple to create a digital signature, and there are plenty of ways, like those that we discussed, for you to create one in just a few minutes. Once you collect your signature from the scanner or tablet, follow the steps to crop it tightly and make it transparent. Then save it wherever you’d like so that you can access it as needed in the future. If you follow the steps outlined above, you’ll be well on your way to applying your digital signature stamp to all types of digital documents in no time.  

If you need any assistance getting this mission accomplished, be sure to reach out to me, Adriana Linares, the SDCBA’s Technology & Practice Management Advisor. I am here to help! You can email me or make an appointment to meet with me online – we can work on that signature together.