Can you fax a signature?

In legal and financial documents that require a signature, there are terms called a wet signature and a dry signature. A wet signature is the original signature, so-called because it was once, albeit briefly, wet from the ink on the document. A dry signature is a copy or a faxed version of a wet signature.

Is a faxed signature legally binding?

Under contract law, signatures are needed to confirm an agreement between two parties. ... To get a legally binding wet ink signature, fax is often used to send documents from one party to another. A faxed signature is legally recognised as valid and is often used to confirm or approve many business and financial deals.

Is a faxed copy of a signature legally binding?

A faxed copy of a document is not the original and, obviously, neither is a copy of an original document. ... In other words, is a contract still legally binding if the only signatures on record are faxed copies? The short answer is that it depends.

Can you fax legal documents?

Are Fax Copies of Signed Documents Legally Enforceable and Acceptable? Facsimile (fax for short) versions of legal documents or scanned and emailed documents or PDF files are generally acceptable for use in legal proceedings to enforce contracts or obligations and, as such, can be relied upon by the recipient.

Is an image of a signature legally binding?

However, federal law mandates that no record, contract, or signature may be unenforced or denied because a signature comes in digital form. ... Each state has its own similar brand of law. For digital signatures to be enforceable and valid, the digital document must be enforceable and valid.

Can legal documents be signed electronically?

The ESIGN Act is a federal law passed in 2000. It grants legal recognition to electronic signatures and records if all parties to a contract choose to use electronic documents and to sign them electronically. ... No contract, signature, or record shall be denied legal effect solely because it is in electronic form.

Is it illegal to photocopy a signature?

Perfectly legal to sign someone else's signature, with permission. Forgery is only a crime if the signing is with the intent to defraud. ... Now, if your signature is going to be notarized, it *is* a crime to pretend to be someone you are not.

Is a photocopy of a signature valid?

Having a scanned signature(s) on a document is valid. This has to be the case in a world where we are more likely to work with someone geographically far, than local. ... To reiterate, having a scanned signature on a contract is perfectly acceptable under law. But acceptance isn't the issue.

Is copying a signature illegal?

Perfectly legal to sign someone else's signature, with permission. Forgery is only a crime if the signing is with the intent to defraud. ... Now, if your signature is going to be notarized, it *is* a crime to pretend to be someone you are not.

Is a picture of a signature legally binding?

This answer is not a substitute for professional legal advice. ... A photo of your signature applied to a digital document is not legally binding as it doesn't have the required legal information such as an audit trail and signer's identity validation.

Functionality index

Create and edit PDF documents online

Drop document here to upload

Select from device

Up to 100 MB for PDF and up to 25 MB for DOC, DOCX, RTF, PPT, PPTX, JPEG, PNG, JFIF, XLS, XLSX or TXT

Based on 12500+ reviews

Last updated on Jan 16, 2026

Try these PDF tools

Edit PDF

Quickly edit and annotate PDFs online.

Start now

Sign

eSign documents from anywhere.

Start now

Request signatures

Send a document for eSignature.

Start now

Share

Instantly send PDFs for review and editing.

Start now

Find forms online

Browse the online library of forms.

Start now

Merge

Combine multiple PDFs into one.

Start now

Rearrange

Rearrange pages in a PDF document.

Start now

Collaborate

Exchange comments and edit PDFs collaboratively.

Start now

Compress

Compress PDFs to reduce their size.

Start now

Convert

Convert PDFs into Word, Excel, JPG, or PPT files and vice versa.

Start now

Create from scratch

Start with a blank page.

Start now

Edit DOC

Edit Word documents.

Start now

Document creation is just the beginning

Learn more about security

Create and edit documents with a trusted solution

Try easy-to-use tools for all your document management needs.

Upload your document

pdfFiller scores top ratings on review platforms

PDFfiller is a great tool that allows me to conveniently complete forms that result in a professional look. The verified signature is a useful feature that I really appreciate since it streamlines the completion process on numerous forms.

Dr.Zella Jackson H

What do you like best?
Easy to use, great compliment to adobe. Creates excellent quality PDF documents.
What do you dislike?
Bit of a bait and switch at the end when the pricing comes at you
Recommendations to others considering the product:
Don't hesitate; This is a great tool and very helpful
What problems are you solving with the product? What benefits have you realized?
Adobe and PDF documents that have trouble converting to Word

User in Marketing and Advertising

What do you like best?
I like being able to edit and/or fill-in .PDF documents. I also like that I can retrieve documents that I have previously worked on.
What do you dislike?
I'd like to be able to change the font in the text option, as it doesn't always look right if mismatched.
Recommendations to others considering the product:
I'm not sure how I first heard of PDF FILLER, but am I ever glad that I found it. My advice would be to try it out and see if it suits your needs. I like many of its features, especially the left pane that shows the document pages, and the ability to select only those that you want to include in a print or save maneuver.
What problems are you solving with the product? What benefits have you realized?
One use that I have for the program is for one of our telecommuter workers - so that she can enter details on employee time cards, and it looks better than handwriting in notes. Uploading the documents she needs is a breeze, and the program alerts me to activity, for example, when she emails the documents to us for distribution.

Paula Yankauskas

Love this!!! Can erase words from PDF's. You will love this program!!! There is an eraser feature that is the best thing ever. This allows you to change a PDF document. How many times do you need to modify a document, or wish it said something different, but don't have an editable version. With PDFfiller you can erase the verbiage, and replace it with something else. You can also easily place your signature on documents too. You can upload you own personal signature too.

Cassidy S.

Easy to use and works perfectly for my needs finding this a very useful and easy system to use - meets my requirements for simple PDF editing brilliantly.

Georgina Slimming World

so far everything is good to use and very easy, I need to explore more but I do not have time. A little confused with the folders but I will learn very soon.

Edgar B

Show more Show less

Watch pdfFiller eSignatures in action

Check out a quick video tutorial that shows how to create and place your signature or send a document for signing.

Related features

Create and edit documents with a trusted solution

Try easy-to-use tools for all your document management needs.

Upload your document