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Updated over 15 years ago,
How To Add A Legit Signature To A .DOC Or A .PDF File Using A PDF Editor And MS Word
Signing contracts is a part of the real estate investing business bar none. Yet a few of us invest out of state which makes signing contracts difficult which is way we are dependent on emails and printers or faxes to sign. You can easily just print out a contract that an agent or a seller sends to you via an email,sign and than scan the document back onto the computer to send back to the agent or seller. Also you can easily print out the contract and than fax it back to the agent or seller as well but some don't have either a fax or a scanner and some don't especially those who are on a limited budget can't afford a new fax or scanner.
So where does that leave those people. Where here is a way to not only save on having to spend on a new fax or scanner but save on having to buy printing paper and even help the environment at the same time. Here are the steps in doing just that:
First create a signature like you would if you were signing via a pen. Go to whichever photo editing program you use either Photoshop or you can even use MS Paint. Start a new file and select a color that is close to a blue or black pen as possible. Use your mouse and sign your name like you would if your mouse was a pen. If you have a stylus pen that would be easier. You might have to practice at it since using a mouse is a little bit difficult but once you get as close as your normal signature than save that file as a .jpeg or a .jpg file.
Now here is a 2 part step in using that saved signature using both MS Word if you are signing a .doc file and using a PDF editor software like acrobat or what I use the Nitro PDF Professional editor if you are signing a .pdf document.
Part 1 Signing A .DOC Style Document using Microsoft Word:
1.Go to Microsoft Word and open up the document that you need to sign.
2.Go to the top and select the insert tab.
3.Go to pictures and select your saved signature that you created in paint or whatever photo creating/editing software you used.
4.Drag the signature close to the line where you need to sign.
5.Right click the signature pic and select "format picture"
6.Go to the layout tab and select "behind text"
7.Now go up to the top you will see some choices go to where it says "send to back" and select it.
8.Now drag the signature over the line you need to sign and wolla you now have signed the document. It should look like you just signed it with a regular pen. If not you need to probably need to go back to your photo editing software and come close to your signature. Try to select a color that is as close to a blue or black pen if that means fiddling around with the colors so be it but just make sure it looks like a pen signatre.
That's it now onto signing .pdf documents.
Part 2 Signing A PDF Document Using A PDF Editor:
1.Go To Any PDF editor software you have. If you don't you need to purchase one. I use one called Nitro PDF Professional. You can probably find it on ebay for $25-$50 or you can use Adobe Acrobat(note not the reader,the reader can't edit pdf's).
Since I use Nitro I will go by using that. Your PDF editor might have similar functions but for the sake of this article I will use Nitro as an example. So those who have Nitro you can follow these steps with ease.
2.In Nitro select the .pdf file that you need to sign.
3.Go to the top and select the "insert and edit" tab
4.Select "image"
5.Click your signature image.
6.Drag the signature image to where you need to sign.
7.Right click and select "send to back"
8.Now drag the signature over the line you need to sign.
Wolla now you have just signed a PDF document. Much like you signed the .doc file make sure it's as close to your signature as possible.
Note:Some pdf files have password protection. If it does request the password from the document sender if he or she has it. Tell them you are signing the document using a legit digi sig and you need the password to edit the pdf file so you can sign it. If they give you trouble ask them nicely to send you a .doc file instead and follow the steps for signing doc files. If they still give your problems after explaining on what you are doing than screw them they aren't motivated and move on to the next deal.
This has saved me for the last few weeks time and problems because I have bought 2 printers with scanners in a span of 3 months but both don't print which left me with a problem. Than I got a hold of the Nitro editor and discovered that you can easily insert a close facsimile to your normal signature And just recently I discovered how you can do that in MS Word as well.
Hope these tips help you in your real estate investment business.