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Are Electronic Signatures Legally Valid?

In most countries, yes. The United States ESIGN Act (2000) and UETA give electronic signatures the same legal standing as handwritten ones for the vast majority of contracts and agreements. The EU eIDAS Regulation similarly recognises electronic signatures across member states. Exceptions include wills, deeds involving real estate in some jurisdictions, and certain notarised documents — these typically require wet (physical) signatures or a higher level of digital authentication. For everyday business contracts, service agreements, NDAs, and employment documents, an electronic signature applied via this tool is fully valid.

Drawn vs. Typed Signature — Which Should You Use?

A drawn signature closely resembles a handwritten signature, which makes it feel more personal and natural for formal agreements. Use a stylus on a tablet or your mouse/trackpad to create something that matches your usual signature. A typed signature renders your name in a signature-style font — faster and cleaner on screen, but less distinctive. For most business contexts either is acceptable; for documents where the recipient may expect a "real" signature appearance (employment contracts, legal agreements), a drawn signature is the better choice. Both carry equal legal weight.

Is My Signature Stored or Shared After Signing?

No. PdfDocShift processes your file in-memory on the server and your signed PDF is available for download immediately. Like all files processed by the tool, the original and signed PDFs are automatically and permanently deleted from our servers within 2 hours of processing. No signature data, no file content, and no personally identifiable information is retained, analysed, or shared. The entire process is encrypted in transit with 256-bit SSL.