Signature PNG Maker

How to Make a Signature PNG

1. 1

   Add a photo

   Take a photo of your signature on paper, or choose, drop or paste one.

2. 2

   Adjust the ink

   Move the slider and pick an ink color until the preview looks right.

3. 3

   Make and save

   Press Make PNG, then download your transparent signature.

What Is a Signature PNG

A signature PNG is a picture of your signature saved as a PNG file with a transparent background. Only the ink shows. You can place it on a PDF, a Word file or a slide, and the paper behind it does not appear. PNG is the format that keeps transparency, because a JPG has no transparent background.

This tool makes a transparent signature from a photo. Sign with a pen on plain paper, take a photo, and the tool removes the paper. You download a signature image you can use again and again. It reads JPG, PNG, HEIC (the iPhone photo format) and WebP.

Remove Background From Signature

The tool works out what bare paper looks like at every spot of your photo. It then keeps only what is clearly darker than the paper right around it. A shadow from your hand or phone, or one side of the sheet being darker, counts as paper. So it copes with uneven light.

A single brightness cutoff for the whole photo would keep the shadow or lose the ink. This way, neither happens. The preview sits on a gray and white checkerboard that only shows which parts are transparent. It is not part of the file. The result is cut to the ink with a small even margin.

One slider runs from 0 to 100 and starts at 50. Move it right to keep more: faint strokes, pencil and light ink. Move it left to keep less: it drops gray ruled lines, shadow edges and faint marks. Ink color starts at Original, which keeps your pen color with the light evened out. Black and Blue recolor the ink.

Scan Signature for a Sharp PNG

To scan a signature, sign on blank white paper and take a photo with the phone held straight above the sheet. Get close, so the signature fills most of the photo. Let the paper fill the picture and avoid hard shadow edges. A sharp photo gives a sharp PNG.

The PNG is as large as the signature is in the photo. A photo with more than 5 megapixels is scaled down to 5 megapixels first. For example, a signature that fills about two thirds of the width of a 12 megapixel phone photo comes out about 1,700 pixels wide. That is enough to print more than 5 inches wide at 300 dpi.

Need a whole page instead of a signature? Try the online document scanner. For tips on scanning paper with a phone, read how to scan documents on iPhone.

Signature Background Remover Limits

This signature background remover works best with dark ink on plain, light paper. It keeps everything clearly darker than the paper, so printed text, dark form lines or a stamp next to your signature stay in the picture. Sign on blank paper, or crop the photo to the signature first.

• Photos can be up to 100 MB on a computer and up to 30 MB on a phone.
• Light gray ruled lines usually drop out at the default setting. If one stays, move the slider left.
• A very dark surface next to the sheet, such as a dark desk, is ignored. A patterned or medium-toned background next to the sheet can be mistaken for ink, so let the paper fill the photo.
• A shadow with a hard, sharp edge can leave a small mark where the edge runs. Soft shadows are no problem.
• Light ink on dark paper does not work.
• The tool does not straighten a tilted signature.
• The output is PNG only. The PNG can only be as sharp as the photo, so a small, far away or blurry signature gives a small or soft result.
• The result is a picture of a signature. It is not a certificate-based digital signature.

Draw or Photograph a Signature

Not every signature needs a photo. If you would rather draw or type one, use the signature maker instead. Use this signature to PNG tool when you want your real handwriting, signed with your own pen on paper. Then place the PNG on a document in any editor that accepts images.

Frequently Asked Questions

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