Sign and date any PDF

What “sign and date” asks of you

The signature says you agree or confirm; the date records when you did it. That date is the day you personally sign, not the date printed at the top of the letter and not the day the agreement starts. If two people sign on different days, each writes their own date.

Where it goes depends on the form. A labelled Date box gets the date. A single line reading “Signature ______ Date ______” gets the date after the word Date, on the same line. A signature block with no date line at all usually doesn't need one, unless the covering letter or instructions ask for it.

Writing the date so nobody misreads it

03/04/2026 is 4 March to an American reader and 3 April to a British one. If the form shows a pattern such as DD/MM/YYYY or a row of eight little boxes, follow it exactly. If it doesn't, writing the month as a word removes the doubt, which is why Add Date spells it out. For international paperwork, ISO 8601 (2026-03-04) is the other safe choice.

Is a signature added this way valid?

US federal law (the ESIGN Act, 15 U.S.C. § 7001) stops a signature or contract from losing its legal force merely because it exists in electronic form. In the EU, Article 25 of the eIDAS Regulation says an electronic signature may not be refused legal effect, or admission as evidence in court, merely because it is electronic or falls short of a qualified signature. And in its 2019 report for England and Wales, the Law Commission found that an electronic signature can execute a document, deeds included, as long as the signer means to authenticate it and the document's own formalities, such as a witness, are complied with.

A signature made with SignDatePDF is a simple electronic signature: an image of your signature placed on the page, with no certificate behind it. That's what most everyday forms, letters and agreements need. If a recipient explicitly asks for a certificate-based, advanced or qualified signature, this isn't one.

When to reach for a pen instead

Some documents are carved out of the electronic signature rules. ESIGN, for example, doesn't cover wills, codicils and testamentary trusts, family-law matters such as adoption and divorce, court papers, or certain notices like utility shut-offs and eviction or foreclosure notices. Documents that must be witnessed or notarised follow their own formal rules.

Some forms say so themselves. The IRS instructions for Form 1040 state that a return filed on paper must carry your handwritten signature, and that digital, electronic or typed-font signatures aren't valid on it. When a form asks for a wet-ink signature, print it and sign by hand.

Dating without signing

Not every date needs a signature next to it. To mark a letter as received, an invoice as paid or a timesheet as approved, use the free date stamp tool: it writes a label and a date on the pages you choose. To put only a date into a form, open it in the editor and use Add Date on its own.

Sources

• 15 U.S.C. § 7001 (ESIGN Act), Cornell LII
• 15 U.S.C. § 7003 (ESIGN exceptions), Cornell LII
• Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 (eIDAS), consolidated text, Article 25
• Law Commission: Electronic execution of documents
• IRS: Instructions for Form 1040, “Sign Your Return”
• ISO: ISO 8601 date and time format