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Last Reviewed:  April 5, 2022

Make a Transparent Signature

You can create a stamp out of your signature so that signing PDF documents is as simple as stamping your name on it. This article will show you how to do it.

Step 1: Prepare Your Signature

The trick is to create a custom stamp out of your signature. So the first step is to get your signature on your computer:

  1. Sign on a clean sheet of paper using the biggest signature you'd ever expect to need (it's easy to shrink a signature, harder to enlarge one cleanly)
  2. Scan it into FileCenter's Edit tab
  3. Zoom the display to 100-150%
  4. Go to the Windows Start button and type Snipping Tool in the Search box, then open the Snipping Tool
  5. Draw a rectangle close around your signature
  6. Save it as a PNG file

Now we need to remove the white background. If you have a favorite graphics program, you probably already know how to do this. If you don't, follow these steps:

  1. Go to http://pixlr.com
  2. Click the Web Apps link
  3. Scroll down until you see an option called Pixlr Editor and click Launch Web App
  4. Click Open Image From Computer
  5. Browse to your signature and open it
  6. On the left you'll see tools; select the third one down in the left column: Magic Wand
  7. On the toolbar above the image, set Tolerance to about 20
  8. To the right of that setting, de-select Contiguous
  9. Click anywhere in the white

At this point, the selction should be tight around your signature. If it isn't, or if it chops off parts of the signature, type Ctrl D to remove the selection, adjust the Tolerance up or down, and try the selection again. Once the selection looks good:

  1. Go to the Edit menu > Invert Selection
  2. Go to the Edit menu > Copy
  3. Go to the File menu > New Image
  4. Select Create Image From Clipboard and Transparent
  5. Click OK

You now have a second copy of your signature, this one with a transparent background (it looks like a checkerboard, but that just tells you that there is no background).

Finally, go to File > Save, select My Computer on the left, be sure to select PNG as the format, then click Ok.

Now give it a name and choose somewhere to save the file.

Step 2: Import Your Signature

Now you have a transparent signature that you can use anywhere. What we care about is getting it into FileCenter. Open a PDF in FileCenter's Edit tab, then do this:

  1. Click the drop-arrow next to the Stamps button (it's the button on the far right side of the PDF editor's toolbar)
  2. Select Show Stamps Palette
  3. On the stamps palette, click New to add a new collection, and give it a name, like "Signatures"
  4. On the right, select From Image
  5. Browse out to the signature you just made and open it

Your signature will now appear as a stamp in the palette. You can close the palette now.

Step 3: Use Your Signature as a Stamp

You're done creating your signature stamp. It's ready to use. So let's sign something:

  1. Click the drop-arrow next to the Stamps button
  2. Scroll down until you see your signature
  3. Select it
  4. Stamp it on the PDF
  5. Use the corner handles to resize it to fit the signature line

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