Signing PDFs Within Mac Mail

We have all received PDFs via email that we have been asked to sign. But printing, signing, scanning and reattaching the PDF to an email can be a pain!
 
One option is to open and sign the PDF in Adobe Acrobat (or the Preview app on your Mac) and then attach the document to your email.
 
But did you know that you can also sign a PDF (or a JPEG for that matter) within the Mail app on your Mac itself? Read on to find out how...

To get started, open the Mail app on your Mac and create a new email message.

Attach the PDF or JPEG you want to sign to your email, either by clicking on the paperclip attachment button in the toolbar or dragging the PDF file from your desktop or Finder.
 
Note: if you want to reply to an email that already has the PDF you want to sign attached, hit ‘Forward’ instead of ‘Reply’ (typing the recipient’s email address in the ‘To;’ section), and the PDF you need to sign will be included in the email.
 
If your attachment has just one page, you’ll see a preview of it in your email; if it has multiple pages, it will just show a small icon. Whether it’s a preview or an icon, hover your cursor over the attachment, and it will reveal a tiny downward-pointing arrow or ‘V’ in the upper right-hand corner. Click on this arrow and you will see ‘Markup’ as the first option – click on this.

Once you’re in Markup, you’ll see a toolbar along the top of the document. Click on the little icon that resembles a signature to add your own signature.
 
(If you have already created your own signature, you can skip the following step – and if not, you will only have to do this once!).

At the bottom of the little window that appears, click on ‘Create Signature’. You then have 3 options: 1) use the trackpad to draw your signature, 2) sign your signature on a sheet of paper and hold it up to the camera on your Mac, or 3) use your iPhone as a trackpad to draw your signature.

When you are finished, click ‘Done’ and your signature will be saved within Apple Mail.

Once you have created a signature, click on the little picture of it, and a larger version will appear in the body of the PDF or JPEG attachment of your email.

You can then use the mouse or trackpad to drag your signature to where you would like it to be (and click on one or more of the little the blue dots in the corners to resize it, if required). Then click ‘Done’ to save your newly signed document to your email.

You can then send the email as usual.