GregLedet.net Adventures in networking, security, and other things

12May/0841

Creating a Transparent Signature stamp in Acrobat

This doesn't have anything to do with networking, but if you're like me you do a lot of paperwork.  A lot of paperwork that requires your signature.  Also, if you're like me, you can't stand having to print something to sign it, only to scan it back it as a PDF and email it off.  That's why I've put this up here.  This will save you a TON of time, paper, and toner.

Portions of this came from an Adobe Blog about a year ago, and the rest I figured out on my own.  Thanks to Rick Borstein for the original post.

Creating a Transparent Signature Stamp

Tons of people have discovered that they can scan their scan their signature and easily turn it into an Acrobat stamp.

The resulting stamp, however, has a white background.

When stamped on top of documents, the results are not visually pleasing:

To create a transparent stamp, you must “feed” Acrobat a file with transparency capabilities such as a GIF or Photoshop PDF.

Read on to learn how . . .

Transparent Formats and Transparency

Only certain graphic file formats offer transparency as an option. One example is the GIF format.

Although some scanning software can produce a GIF, none that I know of automatically remove the white background to produce transparency.

In other words, just because you have a GIF file doesn’t mean it has transparency.

You’ll need to use a tool to remove the background to produce the transparent effect.

Using an Image Editor to Delete the Background

Most image editors—including Adobe Photoshop—offer tools to remove backgrounds. In Photoshop, the Magic Wand tool may be used to remove backgrounds. After removing the background, choose Save As and save the file as a Photoshop PDF which preserves transparency.

If you use a different image editor, use the appropriate tool and save your file as a GIF.

If you have Photoshop, you can get very good results with this method. You can add all sorts of tweaks and flourishes to your signature like a little heart above the lowercase “I”.  That will make your court filings really special. Just kidding!

If you want the best possible results with a color signature, I recommend using an image editor which allows the finest possible adjustments.

An Easier Way: Good for most Customers

Not many people are Photoshop users, but almost everyone has Microsoft Word.

Using Word, you can get decent results and a transparent background with black and white scans.

Here’s how:

  1. Write your signature at the size needed on thick white paper. Use a market-type pen such as a Sharpie Ultra Fine Point.
  2. Scan in the signature at 300 dpi, black and white. Save the file as a TIFF file.
  3. Start Microsoft Word and create a new document.
  4. Choose Insert—>Picture—>From File…
  5. Find the TIFF image you scanned earlier.
    This will place the image on the page.
  6. Select the image by clicking on it once.
  7. Right-click and choose Show Picture Toolbar
  8. Click the Set Transparent Color tool
  9. Click once anywhere in the white area of the signature picture.
  10. Save the Word document.
  11. Choose File—>Print and print your file to the AdobePDF print driver. Give the file a name when prompted.

Adding the Stamp to Acrobat

Below are abbreviated instructions.

  1. Launch Acrobat and choose View—>Toolbars—>Commenting
  2. On the Commenting palette, click on the arrow next to the Stamp button.
  3. Choose Create Custom Stamp and click the browse button to find the PDF stamp you created.
  4. Create a new category for the stamp (or use an existing one) and give it a name. Click the OK button.

Another way of doing things:

If you have Acrobat Professional, you can paste the transparent GIF into a page.  Simply go to "Tools -> Advanced Editing -> Touch-up Object Tool".  Then you can right-click where you want your signature and "Place Image".  Shrink to fit an voila!  You have a signature!

If you find this post helpful, do me a favor and leave a comment or check out some of my sponsors.

  • http://www.likeacat.com/ Debbie

    Very helpful. The clearest, simplest instructions I’ve found yet. I used the TIFF editing in Word with no problem. Thanks.

  • http://www.likeacat.com Debbie

    Very helpful. The clearest, simplest instructions I’ve found yet. I used the TIFF editing in Word with no problem. Thanks.

  • http://email-marketing-plan.com/ Jim Spence

    Friday I was searching for Blogs related to email topics but more specifically to email signature format. I found your blog and find it intersting.

  • http://email-marketing-plan.com Jim Spence

    Friday I was searching for Blogs related to email topics but more specifically to email signature format. I found your blog and find it intersting.

  • Kumar

    Tried using the “place image” option using Acrobat pro and pngs… It works so well. Thanks for all these wonderful “alternate” tips and very clear instructions!!

  • Kumar

    Tried using the “place image” option using Acrobat pro and pngs… It works so well. Thanks for all these wonderful “alternate” tips and very clear instructions!!

  • Leo

    I wonder if there is a way of doing this in old Acrobat 5.0 – do not want to pay for an upgrade. It looks like it converts transparent gif into a non-transparent jpeg and stamp comes out all black. Any suggestions or workarounds would be appreciated.

  • Leo

    I wonder if there is a way of doing this in old Acrobat 5.0 – do not want to pay for an upgrade. It looks like it converts transparent gif into a non-transparent jpeg and stamp comes out all black. Any suggestions or workarounds would be appreciated.

  • Leonid

    Thank you, Greg!
    Simple and efficient way to produce a stamp with a clear background. You are a genius!
    The only thing that .gif format gives the stamp of enormous size and very difficult to size it down and Photoshop .pdf format much heavier.

    With big respect,

    Leonid.

  • Leonid

    Thank you, Greg!
    Simple and efficient way to produce a stamp with a clear background. You are a genius!
    The only thing that .gif format gives the stamp of enormous size and very difficult to size it down and Photoshop .pdf format much heavier.

    With big respect,

    Leonid.

  • Sarah

    Thanks a lot!
    This was very easy and helpful. I was trying to figure out an electronic signature in adobe, but it was a little difficult.

    This was simple and fast! Thanks!!

    Sarah

  • Sarah

    Thanks a lot!
    This was very easy and helpful. I was trying to figure out an electronic signature in adobe, but it was a little difficult.

    This was simple and fast! Thanks!!

    Sarah

  • Ed

    my gif has transparent areas but those areas are not transparent on import to adobe acrobat.

  • Ed

    my gif has transparent areas but those areas are not transparent on import to adobe acrobat.

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  • JPY

    AWESOME. Don't have Photoshop, and couldn't figure out a way to do this, and your Word trick worked like a charm. Thanks!

  • Mr. Churro

    Excellent ! Superb ! THE hot tamale ! My hats off ( yes – I do wear many hats ) to you Senor.
    Now then – what's the big deal one may think in your procedures demonstrating the use of transparency as stamps or placed images etc ? Well to begin with its useful – so useful that it simply has not alternative. Next the functionality that it opens up (thanks to you) (oh I love the MS-Word – transparency – PDFexport proc – that's a habanero salsa made from cherry tomatoes ! Now I do wonder if Openoffice writer has that feature hmmm ) makes the workflow of the day elegant – that is what it is all about – Work flow. Finally I really have no idea who the neanderthal boneheads who run the Program Management office Adobe Acrobat are but they simply do not seem to understand – “make features easily accessible” – Imagine them trying to eat chips and salsa – um well actually trying to hunt out the chips from pile of wood shavings and the salsa .. well I shall desist.

    It is the lore of such good Samaritans that keeps the hope going. OH BTW – I made a transparent layer in Photoshop – imported my scanned signature – used magic wand to pick up the signature as a selection – dropped it on the transparent new layer in a nice inky blue – killed the scanned layer – deselected – saved the psd file – and saved the image as a png image ( no interlace ) and imported the signature as a rightclick of the touch up object tool and sized the bounding box so the signature was just perfect – and that was just that.

    Good Luck every body – nope I am not a Mexican – just call me Mr Churro riding a Burro.

  • Luckystar

    This was the easiest tutorial I've found to create a transparent signature stamp. Thanks a bunch!

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KDWGOVAGIOHNP7PYIRICOZOU54 Beetle

    After searching forever, you have saved me. Thank you so much!!!! I'm passing this on to my colleagues as its the only fix I've found for the background issue. THANK YOU!!!

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KDWGOVAGIOHNP7PYIRICOZOU54 Beetle

    After searching forever, you have saved me. Thank you so much!!!! I'm passing this on to my colleagues as its the only fix I've found for the background issue. THANK YOU!!!

  • BH

    2/9/11

    Thank you! This was most informative, and the MS Word method was especially useful (since I do not know how to operate PhotoShop).

    I was actually able to use the MS Word method with both a color and a B&W signature — however, the B&W worked much better in terms of how much ‘edging’ there was around the lines of the signature itself.

    The color signature, while largely transparent in background, evidenced a border of white around the signature lines whereas the B&W signature did not.

    Kudos, and many thanks again! . . . BH

  • Gail Thatgirl

    Thank you so much. I tried to do this for 5 days and in one hour I was able to make my signature. Is there a way to export the stamp to my pc and email or send it to someone else. Thanks Gail

  • bw

    Thank you for the tip on the GIF format.  I wasn’t able to get it to work through Word, but I was able to get it to work going through Powerpoint 2010 and using the transparency tool in Powerpoint and saving the signature as a GIF.  Don’t know why it didn’t work for me through Word, but the GIF format was a saver — many thanks!

  • Gail Thatgirl

    bw save your signature to your pc. open any word document, insert picture, then go get your signature and add it.

    Is it transparent? If not I will send you a link where you can scan in your signature and make a transparent signatur e stamp. Its $10.00 but well worth it. Let me know

    Gail

  • Jchristianson

    I was really hoping this would work because I have searched all over for a way to get rid of that pesky background. I used your directions using Word; “An Easier Way: Good for Most Customers” and after “Adding the Stamp to Acrobat”. I tried it three times in the exact way it was written, but it didn’t work. :( My signature went onto the pdf at first looking pixelated in black and white and the second and third time, it didn’t pixelate, but it also was not transparent, even though it was transparent in the Word document (actually it was never transparent in Word, only in Powerpoint).

    I am using Word 2010 and Adobe Acrobat X, so maybe it’s a slightly different procedure? If anyone has tips to create a signature with transparent background for these programs, I’d greatly appreciate it!

  • Melissa

    I had no luck with this method either…I’ll guess I’ll give it another go. 

    I may just go to FedEx Office & use their Photoshop software for a few bucks.  

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  • Mikg

    The PNG file format should work as well as a GIF file format for a transparent background. I’ve been using this method of digitally signing documents for the last 6 years in Acrobat.

    You write your name legibly several times on a sheet of plain white paper and then scan it as a picture (save as PNG format) at 256 greyscale setting and 300dpi resolution for best results.

    Open the file you saved in Windows Paint or similar graphics editing tool (I use the free Paint.NET) and pick the best looking of your signatures and select a rectangle just surrounding your signature. Then select “crop to selection” so all that’s left is your signature. Then using the “magic wand” tool click anywhere on the white space surrounding your signature and hit the “Delete” key to erase everything that you’ve selected (the white space). Do this again for any areas that had white space enclosed by your signature lettering (like the letter “O” or “P” or “D” where your previous selection missed) until you have nothing left but your black signature on a transparent background. 

    Then just follow the rest of the procedures to add that as either a “Custom Stamp” in acrobat or create a digital signature when you use your company card or CAC card to sign documents.

  • http://twitter.com/jschoenwald Josh Schoenwald

    I tried this and apparently Acrobat (the latest version anyway) only recognizes the .gif format. Why, I have no idea. I tried both .PNG and Photoshop-PDF, neither of which showed the correct transparency in Acrobat. Tried it with a .GIF and worked like a charm.

  • Greg

    Thanks the Adobe Acrobat tip worked great!

  • Bba43

    Very clear, detailed, yet simple, step by step instructions. I spent recently almost half a day trying to include a transparent image with no success.
    Many thanks from France

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    I spent recently almost half a day trying to include a transparent image with no success.

  • Cat Grace

    Much easier & faster method.

    1. open new word doc.
    2. insert image; your signature image.
    3. stretch it big.
    4. format/recolor/transparant.
    5. right mouse click on image, copy.
    6. paste image into your pdf; it’s pretty good quality.

  • 2-Xite

    Very, very clear and effective. Many thanks for it!

    2-Xite

  • Peter Philipp

    This page was the answer to a long search. Easy and efficient – just what I had been looking for. After years of using “mini-signatures” that would fit the white space in forms…

    Thanks.

    Peter Philipp
    (Germany)

  • macdara

    Thanks, this worked really well for me.

  • guest

    Thank you… you’re a hero here today!

  • Brad

    Cat Grace…how do you convert that image created in word into a PDF that is transparent.  If I copy and paste the image it is transparent but when I convert the image to a PDF it is no longer transparent.  I can do it on my old XP computer using Microsoft document imaging and word but can’t make in work in W7.

  • Info

    You da man… no really, you da man!  Thx!

  • Guest

    This method was both easy and fast.  I did need to look up how to access the magic wand, having not had much experience with Photoshop before today, but that took about 25 seconds (it’s under the Quick Selection Tool in CS4).  Thanks a ton.

  • Guest

    Ok, So this works in Excel as well, but every time I do it, a faint box appears around the signature, on screen and when printed. I need this to disappear! Anyone, please help!

  • La Diva del Chicharron

    It took me a while to figure it out, but I finally got it!  Thanks a lot.  :P

  • vicki

    I wanted so much for this to work, but after following all of the MS Word (2010) steps, once it is “stamped” in Adobe, there is still a white background! Oh well, I’ll keep searching for my right answer!

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