How-to guides and FAQ

How do I open a PDF or a Word document?

PolpoSign opens PDF files and Word documents, and you can drag a file straight into the window.

1. Click Open at the top left, or drag the file into the PolpoSign window.
2. Pick the file. It opens in a tab under the toolbar; Close shuts it.
3. Move between pages with the arrows and the page box at the bottom, and zoom with the slider or Fit width.
4. Choose what to do from the three tabs at the top: Signatures, Forms or Drawing.

A Word document is turned into a PDF so that it can be signed.

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How do I sign a PDF with a pen or a mouse?

Add a signature box where the signature goes, then write inside it with a pen, a mouse or a trackpad. No printing and no scanning.

1. Open the document and stay on the Signatures tab.
2. Click Add signature. A coloured box appears on the page.
3. Drag the box where the signature goes and resize it with the handles on its corners and sides.
4. Click Sign in the little bar above the box. A white box opens: sign inside it.
5. Press Sign to apply it. Retry clears the box for another go, and Cancel (or Esc) stops without signing.
6. Click Save (Ctrl+S) to keep the document with its signature.

Each signature is applied to the PDF as a digital signature, so changes made after signing can be detected.

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How do I save my signature to use it again?

Draw it once in Manage saved signatures and it is there every time you sign. You can keep up to 10.

1. On the Signatures tab, click Manage saved signatures.
2. Click the + Add button and choose Draw…. The other choices are Load image… for a file you already have, and From the phone… for a photo (see the guide on photos).
3. Write your signature in the box. You can change the pen style (Plain, Ballpoint or Fountain pen), the line width and the colour, undo a stroke or clear it all.
4. Give it a name, then save it. It appears in the list at the top of the window.
5. Keep "Available when I add a saved signature" on for the ones you want to pick when signing.

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How do I sign with a saved signature?

Pick it from your saved signatures, place it and press Sign. Nothing to draw again.

1. On the Signatures tab, click Add saved signature and choose the one you want.
2. The signature appears on the page inside a box. Drag it where it goes and resize it.
3. Click Sign. The signature is applied to the document.
4. If the document has several places to sign, add one for each, then use Sign all in the left panel to sign them in sequence.
5. Click Save (Ctrl+S).

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How do I use a photo of my signature taken with my phone?

Scan a code on screen with your phone, photograph your signature on paper, and the photo arrives in PolpoSign by itself.

1. Write your signature on a white sheet of paper.
2. In PolpoSign, open Manage saved signatures, click + Add and choose From the phone….
3. Point your phone's camera at the code on screen and open the link.
4. Take the photo of the signature and send it. It appears in the window on your computer.
5. The code lasts five minutes. If it expires, ask for a new code.

The photo travels encrypted and only your computer can read it: the site passes it on without keeping it. If the phone does not read the code, tick Classic colours for a black-on-white code.

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How do I remove the paper and the shadows from a photographed signature?

Turn on "Photo of a signature on paper": PolpoSign removes the paper, the shadows and the uneven light, and keeps only the ink.

1. In Manage saved signatures, select the photo of your signature.
2. Switch on "Photo of a signature on paper".
3. Raise Strength if parts of the signature are missing, and Specks to remove small marks left by the paper.
4. Choose the ink colour: Original, Black or Blue. Tick "Crop to the signature" to trim the empty margins, and use Contrast for a darker or lighter line.
5. If something is left around the signature, click Crop, drag over the part to keep and confirm. The rotation slider straightens a tilted photo.

For a signature that is already on a white background, such as an image file, use "Remove white background" instead.

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How do I fill in a form, or add fields to a PDF?

On the Forms tab you fill in the fields a PDF already has, or draw your own where you need them.

1. Open the document and click the Forms tab. The fields it has are listed on the left under Form fields.
2. To fill one in, double-click it in the list or in the page, or select it and click Edit, then type. Clear empties it and Show highlights it on the page.
3. To add a field, click Add field and choose its kind: Text, Check box, Choice among options, Drop-down menu or List box.
4. Drag on the page to draw the field, or click once for a standard size. Move or resize it afterwards.
5. Click Properties to set the name, a description, whether it is required or read-only, and its options. Duplicate (Ctrl+D) copies a field and Delete removes it; Cancel and Redo step back and forward (Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+Y).
6. Click Save (Ctrl+S) to keep the filled-in document.

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How do I check that a signature is valid?

Click the signature: the Signature details panel tells you who signed, when, and whether the document was changed after signing.

1. Open a signed document and stay on the Signatures tab. Its signatures are listed on the left.
2. Click a signature in the list or on the page.
3. The Signature details panel opens on the right (or click its tab on the right edge).
4. At the top it says whether the signature is valid and the document was not modified after signing. Below you see the signer, the date and time, the checks made and the certificate.
5. Click Show in the document to find the signature on the page.

PolpoSign signs with a certificate it creates on your computer, so the identity is not confirmed by a certificate authority. The check tells you the document was not changed after signing; whether a recipient accepts it depends on them and on the type of document.

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How do I print a signed document?

Click Print, choose the printer and the pages, and print. You can also hand the document to your PDF viewer.

1. Click Print at the top right (or press Ctrl+P).
2. Choose the printer, the number of copies and, if your printer can, printing on both sides.
3. Choose the pages: All, the current page, or a Range such as 1-3, 5.
4. Choose Colour or Black and white, and leave Fit to page on so that every page is shrunk or enlarged to fit the sheet.
5. Click Print. If no printer is found, or you prefer your viewer's own print window, click Open in PDF viewer.

To send or print a copy that looks the same on every computer, use Export instead (see the next guide).

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How do I make a copy that looks scanned?

Export a scanned copy: every page becomes an image, as if it had come out of an office scanner.

1. Click Export at the top right.
2. Choose Scanned copy.
3. Under Colours choose Colour, or Black and white for a smaller file that looks like a scanner's B/W mode (light greys disappear).
4. Under Quality choose how sharp the pages are, from 150 to 600 DPI. The higher it is, the larger the file; Medium (200 DPI) is what an office scanner uses.
5. Leave "Simulate a tilted page" on if you want the sheet slightly crooked and off-centre, as in a real scanner, or switch it off for straight pages.
6. Click Export…, choose a name and a place, and save. The document you have open does not change.

A scanned copy has no selectable text, form fields or digital signatures. For a copy that prints the same everywhere but keeps its text, choose Print copy instead: signatures, filled-in fields and drawings become part of the page.

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