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

Love this program! It allows you to download any document and make it your own. No more handwriting which leaves room for errors. The only part that confuses me is the saving of a document to be used over and over... haven't quite figured that out yet.

Jack

4 starts because of great chat support but some features I would change. Like when filling out fillable form, I don't like how the instruction window follows you through the entire document. Most other online forms don't have this because they assume the form is self-explanatory. The feature is cumbersome, like dragging around dead weight. Anyways, that is my input.

Scott W

Love this tool. Very intuitive and well built webApp (UI and UX are great). For the UX though, it can be a bit tough to jump in and out of different modes (editing which is "Open" - maybe call is "Fill", and tough to get to the fillable edit section). I work in Analytics - let me know if there is a career at PDFfiller for me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewmiller09/

Andy M

I am using PDF filler for my business and find it so easy to use. Love the feature that I can save documents as .doc and .pdf and save to my desktop for future reference without logging in.

Vernell G

This app saves aa lot of time and This app saves aa lot of time and headaches and provides a professional quality document which an be modified and reprinted asneeded.

Joel Kalman

Allows PDF to be edited My overall experience with PDF filler has been convenient, and also allows me to fill in PDFs without having to print them out. What I like most about the software is the storage content which allows you to save PDFs into your device and fill them out later. I have not used this offer enough to find any dislikes, but it is very convenient for any business owner or even educators who need forms filled out electronically.

Jalonda R.

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