Your files never leave your device. All processing happens locally in your browser.
How do I prepare a PDF for signature with sign-here tabs?
Upload your PDF to AnyTool’s Request Signatures tool, add each signer (name, email, role — each gets a colour), then click on the page to drop “Sign here”, “Date” and “Initials” tabs where each person must sign. Add a return-by date and instructions, then export a marked-up PDF with an optional cover sheet. Everything runs in your browser — the document is never uploaded. It prepares the packet for you to send and track yourself; it is not an e-signature service.
Add signers, then place Sign here / Date / Initials tabs on the page where each signs
Generate a signing-instructions cover sheet (who signs what, on which pages, return-by date, how to return)
Export a marked-up PDF (tabs overlaid with pdf-lib, so the document stays text-based)
Track each signer’s status (to send → sent → signed → returned) in your browser
100% client-side — your document and signer details are never uploaded
What is
Signing Packet Preparation
Signing-packet preparation is the process of getting a document ready for signature: identifying who must sign, placing fields (signature, date and initials) on the pages where they sign, writing clear instructions (who signs what, by when and how to return it), and tracking each signer’s status. AnyTool’s Request Signatures tool does this entirely in the browser — it places labelled tabs on a PDF, generates an instructions cover sheet and a tracking checklist, and exports a marked-up PDF for you to send and follow up yourself. It prepares a document for wet-ink or fill-in signing; it is not an e-signature service and does not collect legally-binding electronic signatures or an audit trail.
Document Processing
Related terms
Sign Here TabSignature FieldWet SignatureElectronic SignatureCover SheetSignerAudit TrailPDF Markup
Frequently Asked Questions
No. It prepares a document and a signing request for you to send and track yourself. It does not email signers, collect legally-binding e-signatures, verify identity, or create an audit trail.
No — this is deliberately not an e-signature platform. AnyTool’s Request Signatures tool helps you prepare a signing packet: it places Sign here, Date and Initials tabs on your PDF, writes a signing-instructions cover sheet, and gives you a tracking checklist. It then hands you a marked-up PDF and ready-made request text to send yourself (for example by email). It does not email signers for you, collect legally-binding electronic signatures, verify a signer’s identity, or produce a tamper-evident audit trail — those require a server-side e-signature platform such as DocuSign, desktop PDF software Sign or Dropbox Sign. The tabs and signature lines are placement guides for printing and wet-ink signing, or for a signer to fill in.
Open your PDF, add a signer, choose Sign here, Date or Initials, then click on the page where they must sign. Each signer has a colour, and you can drag to resize a tab.
Upload the PDF and press Open document — each page renders so you can see exactly where to place tabs. Add the people who need to sign (name, email, role); each gets a distinct colour. Select a signer, pick the tab type (Sign here, Date, Initials or a free-text note), then click on the page to drop a default-sized tab, or drag to size it precisely. Place a Date tab beside every signature and use Initials tabs on key pages. Tap the × on any tab to remove it. The placement maps to PDF points on export, so the tabs land in the right spot in the marked-up PDF.
It is never uploaded. The PDF is rendered, marked up and rebuilt entirely in your browser, and signer details are saved only in your own browser’s local storage.
Nothing leaves your device. The PDF is opened, rendered with pdfjs, marked up with your tabs and rebuilt with pdf-lib entirely in your browser — there is no server, no API and no CDN call for your document, and the page works offline once cached. Signer names, emails and statuses are stored only in your own browser’s local storage so you can track progress, and only the marked-up PDF you choose to export ever leaves the page. That makes it safe for a confidential contract, unlike online signing services that upload your file and your signers’ details to their servers.
No. The tabs are placement guides for wet-ink or fill-in signing. For a legally-binding e-signature with an audit trail, use a dedicated e-signature provider.
No. AnyTool’s Request Signatures tool marks where to sign and prepares the request, but the actual signing happens off the tool — someone prints and signs in ink, or fills the fields in digitally, then returns the document to you. A legally-binding electronic signature requires intent to sign, consent to do business electronically, the signature being associated with the record, and record retention, typically backed by a tamper-evident audit trail (who signed, when, where and how). That needs a server-side e-signature platform. Use one of those (DocuSign, desktop PDF software Sign, Dropbox Sign and similar) when you need binding e-signatures; use this tool to prepare a clean, clearly-marked packet for wet-ink or manual signing.
AnyTool’s Request Signatures tool prepares a PDF for signing entirely in the browser. The user uploads a PDF, which is rendered page by page with a lazily-imported pdfjs whose worker is bundled with the app (no CDN), then adds the people who must sign — each signer has a name, email, role and an automatically assigned colour. The user selects a signer and a tab type (Sign here, Date, Initials, or a free-text note) and clicks or drags on the rendered page to place labelled tabs exactly where that person must act; tabs are stored in rendered-pixel coordinates and can be moved between pages, resized or deleted. The tool also generates a signing-instructions cover sheet (document title, each signer and what they sign, the page numbers, a return-by date and how to return the document) and keeps a signer tracking checklist whose statuses (to send, sent, signed, returned) persist in the browser’s local storage. It is explicitly a preparation utility, not an e-signature service.
Renders the PDF with a bundled pdfjs worker (no CDN) so tabs can be placed visually
Add multiple signers (name, email, role), each with a distinct colour
Place Sign here / Date / Initials / free-text tabs per signer by click or drag; move, resize or delete
Generates a signing-instructions cover sheet (who signs what, pages, return-by date, how to return)
Signer tracking checklist (to send → sent → signed → returned) persisted in local storage
⚙️Methodology
How the Marked-Up PDF Is Built: pdf-lib Overlay With Coordinate Mapping
On export the tool re-loads the original PDF bytes with pdf-lib (not the rasterised preview), so the document stays text-based and sharp. For each tab it maps the stored rendered-pixel coordinates to PDF points by scaling against the page’s native point size, and flips the Y axis because pdf-lib’s origin is bottom-left while the canvas origin is top-left. It then draws a light, signer-coloured box with the tab label (for example “Sign here”), the signer’s name and a signature/date baseline, plus a small pointer marker for signature tabs. When the cover sheet is enabled it is inserted as a new first page sized to the document, with the document title, a per-signer breakdown of what each completes and on which pages, the return-by date, the return method and a short instruction line, drawn with embedded Helvetica fonts and a greedy word-wrap measured against the font metrics. The finished document is saved with pdf-lib and downloaded; ready-made request text mirroring the cover sheet can also be copied to the clipboard for the user to paste into an email.
Overlays tabs on the original PDF with pdf-lib — keeps the document text-based, no rasterisation
Maps rendered-pixel coordinates to PDF points and flips the Y axis (pdf-lib origin is bottom-left)
Draws a signer-coloured box, the tab label, the signer name and a signing/date line per tab
Optional cover sheet inserted as a new first page with per-signer instructions and a return-by date
Copy ready-made request / cover text to paste into your own email
🔒Privacy & Security
Privacy and Honest Limits: Local Processing, Prepares-Not-Sends, Not an E-Signature Service
Every step runs on the device: the PDF is rendered with a bundled pdfjs worker and rebuilt with pdf-lib, with no server, API or CDN call for the document, and the page works offline once cached. The document and the signer details the user types are never uploaded; signer names, emails and statuses are saved only in the browser’s own local storage so the user can track progress, and only the marked-up PDF the user chooses to export ever leaves the page — which makes the tool safe for a confidential contract, unlike online signing services that upload the file and the signers’ details to their servers. The page is prominently honest about scope. It prepares a document and a signing request for the user to send and track manually; it does not email signers, collect legally-binding electronic signatures, verify a signer’s identity, or produce a tamper-evident audit trail — capabilities that require a server-side e-signature platform. The tabs and signature lines are placement guides for printing and wet-ink signing, or for a signer to fill in. For legally-binding e-signatures (which under laws such as the US ESIGN Act and UETA hinge on intent to sign, consent, association of the signature with the record, and record retention, typically evidenced by an audit trail), the page directs the user to a dedicated e-signature provider such as DocuSign, desktop PDF software Sign or Dropbox Sign.
No upload: PDF rendered with a bundled pdfjs worker and rebuilt with pdf-lib; offline-capable
Document and signer details never leave the page; signer statuses saved only in local storage
Prepares a packet for the user to send and track manually — it does not email signers
Not an e-signature service: no legally-binding e-signatures, identity check, or audit trail
For binding e-signatures with an audit trail, use a dedicated e-signature provider
Getting a document signed: AnyTool Request Signatures (prepare a packet) vs an e-signature service vs a generic PDF editor
Capability
AnyTool Request Signatures
E-signature service (DocuSign etc.)
Generic PDF editor
Processing
Runs in your browser, no CDN
Server-side (cloud)
Local or cloud
Privacy of the document
Never uploaded; offline-capable
Uploaded to their servers
Varies
Place Sign here / Date / Initials tabs
Yes, per signer, by click or drag
Yes
Sometimes (manual)
Multiple signers with colours
Yes
Yes
Rarely
Signing-instructions cover sheet
Auto-generated + copyable text
Email body / instructions
Manual
Sends to signers
No — you send it yourself
Yes, emails signers
No
Legally-binding e-signature + audit trail
No (wet-ink / fill-in guides)
Yes (tamper-evident audit trail)
No
Identity verification
No
Yes
No
Tracking
Local checklist (to send → returned)
Server dashboard + notifications
None
Cost / signup
Free, no signup
Paid, account required
Varies
AnyTool prepares a clearly-marked signing packet locally for you to send and track yourself; for legally-binding electronic signatures with an audit trail, use a dedicated e-signature provider.
