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Just got a new Mini with Mavericks. I'd like to use Preview, not AdobeReader, to sign my PDF documents. Is there some way to use a scanned image of my signature rather using a webcam which I do not have?

Thanks,

Quickly sign any document with Preview

Looks like that feature requires a FaceTime camera, which the mini is not equipped with.

The article's answer to Douglas's question:


Edit: And Douglas may have a Mac display that's got a camera. The Thunderbolt display's got one, but I don't know about others.

I'm not entirely sure that Topher established that as an alternative through hands-on experimentation.

I cropped a signature out of a scanned .pdf in Preview, exported it as a .png, used Preview's "Instant Alpha" tool to make its background transparent, and saved it as both .pdf and .png. In neither case was I able to paste it into a .pdf—the Paste command was dimmed. If I exported the document I wanted to sign as a .png, I was able to paste the .png signature into it, then re-export it as a .pdf.

So yes, you can end up with a signed .pdf that way—I'd call "cumbersome" a bit of an understatement—but it doesn't appear accurate to describe the process as "pasting it or otherwise combining it with your PDF."

I said "the article's answer" rather than "the answer" because I was a bit skeptical about the paste thing. Thanks for doing the legwork.

(I can't find an "Instant Alpha" tool in Preview 5.0.1 (in Snowy); am I missing it, or is it new functionality?)

The Instant Alpha tool is in the Edit Toolbar, but you won't see it if you're looking at a .pdf; it's only available for image files.

You could always Google "Instant Alpha." You may find that accessing the tool is different than I've described: looks like there may not be an Edit Toolbar in OS X 10.6...

Found it! Thanks. (I had opened Preview with a PDF, but I switched to a png, and there it was.)

I guess I will have to keep and use Adobe Reader since I can use a scanned image of my signature and don't need a webcam which I do not have.

This seems like a pretty careless omission by Apple since not everyone owns an iMac or Mac laptop. Does not seem like it would be that difficult to provide a way to use a scanned image of your signature.

Sorry for omitting the details. In Snowy, "Instant Alpha" is found under "Select" in Preview's toolbar.

> This seems like a pretty careless omission by Apple since not everyone owns an iMac or Mac laptop.

Surely, everyone whose Mac didn't come with a built-in monitor has bought an Apple monitor (with FaceTime camera), so there's no need for accommodation.