PDFs tools have been around for some time and they continue to thrive, especially since shareability and collaboration have never been this easy. While there are undoubtedly more collaboration options available now with tools like Google Docs and WPS Office, security can be compromised. For this reason, PDFs also offer fill and sign features to ensure security and credibility are solid as a stone. In this article, we will discuss the best 7 fill and sign PDF for PC and Mac.
Best 7 Fill & Sign Apps for PC and Mac
1. Adobe Acrobat Reader DC
Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is a wildly famous application through which you can manipulate PDF files with ease. It offers a clean and user-friendly interface, making it accessible for users of all levels. The app is available for both PC and Mac platforms, ensuring compatibility for a wide range of users. While primarily a viewer, it offers some limited editing capabilities, such as annotating and signing documents.
Main Features：
Multi-platform compatibility: Available for both PC and Mac, providing accessibility to users across different devices.
Free to use: Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is free to download and use, making it accessible to a broad user base.
Easy to use: The app features a simple and intuitive interface, allowing users to navigate and manipulate PDF files effortlessly.
Annotation and highlighting tools: Users can highlight text and add annotations to PDF documents, enhancing the reading and reviewing experience.
Signing documents: The app enables users to sign PDF documents digitally, eliminating the need for printing, scanning, and mailing physical copies.
Price：
Plans starting from $12.99/month.
Trustpilot Rating：
1.2 out of 5 Stars (4,345 reviews)
Pros：
Accessible on PC and Mac platforms for all users.
Free download broadens user accessibility and adoption.
Annotation and highlighting tools improve document review efficiency.
Digital signing feature available for document authentication process.
Cons：
Intrusive prompts to upgrade to paid Adobe Acrobat DC.
2. WPS PDF
WPS Office is a renowned office suite that has skyrocketed to fame, largely owing to its free accessibility and its ability to rival high-industry competitors such as Microsoft Office. The suite includes an online PDF tool that is an efficient editor, converter, merger, form filler, and organizer, facilitating effortless editing of pages, text, or layouts on PDF documents - similar to Word - all at no cost and in seconds. Also, it is compatible with both PC and Mac platforms, ensuring users across different operating systems can benefit from its versatility and functionality.
Main Features：
Comprehensive Collaboration: WPS PDF Editor facilitates seamless collaboration through annotation tools like fill and sign PDF online, file sharing, and real-time data synchronization.
Efficient Document Management: With a solid document storage, search/filter capabilities, and activity dashboard, managing and organizing PDFs becomes effortless.
Versatile Integration: Integrated API and third-party integrations ensure compatibility with various platforms and workflows.
Enhanced Productivity Tools: Offering multi-language support, templates, and productivity features like time tracking, WPS PDF Editor provides efficiency in document-related tasks.
Advanced Data Handling: Features like data extraction, import/export, and reporting/analytics empower users with comprehensive data management capabilities.
Secure Access and Authentication: Single sign-on authentication ensures secure access to documents, while notes management and training support facilitate efficient collaboration and knowledge sharing.
Price：
Free with premium options.
WPS Pro 3 Months Plan: $5.99/month, billed $17.99 every 3 months.
WPS Pro 1 Year Plan: $2.99/month, billed $35.99 annually.
WPS Pro 6 Months Plan: $3.99/month, billed $23.99 every 6 months.
Trustpilot Rating：
4.5 out of 5 Stars (1,445 reviews)
Pros：
Intuitive interface for easy navigation and use.
Compatible with both PC and Mac platforms.
Offers integration with popular cloud storage services.
Has a comprehensive range of advanced editing tools.
Efficient PDF conversion and editing capabilities.
Cons：
Intrusive advertisements within the application interface.
Mandatory periodic saving of documents.
3. PDFelement
Wondershare PDFelement offers a simple PDF editing experience with core features suitable for diverse user needs. While it lacks flashy elements, it covers standard and advanced editing tools in a user-friendly interface. The program caters to both new and experienced users, supported by comprehensive help resources.
Main Features：
Optical Character Recognition (OCR): Scans PDFs to identify text for user manipulation.
Annotation Tools: Facilitates users with tools to annotate, markup, and highlight PDF documents.
Document Compression: Enables file compression without compromising quality.
Signature Integration: Facilitates free pdf signature through handwriting, image upload, or drawing.
Conversion: Offers PDF creation from various formats, document-to-PDF conversion, and font diversity.
Price：
Plans starting from $69/year.
Trustpilot Rating:
4 out of 5 Stars (1,279 reviews)
Pros：
Easy to manipulate PDFs, redesign, and reconstruct.
Intuitive interface for enjoyable use.
Effective for creating fillable surveys for clients and students.
Recommended PDF reader for users of all levels.
Cons：
Program may cause issues with other PDFs on the computer.
Stability problems, especially with larger PDF files.
4. Smallpdf
SmallPDF offers a cloud-based PDF editor with a variety of tools for editing, converting, and securing PDF files. While it excels in single-task usage and simplicity, it may lack the complexity required for extensive editing needs. However, for those requiring extensive editing capabilities, SmallPDF may fall short in meeting their needs.
Main Features：
Comprehensive Activity Monitoring: Small PDF offers an intuitive activity dashboard, enabling users to track document-related activities and monitor progress effortlessly.
Streamlined Collaboration: With robust collaboration tools, Small PDF fosters seamless teamwork through features like annotations, document review, and real-time notifications, enhancing communication and productivity.
Efficient Document Management: Small PDF provides a comprehensive suite of document management tools, including document storage, file sharing, and batch processing, ensuring organized and efficient handling of documents.
Enhanced Security and Authentication: Small PDF prioritizes security with SSL encryption, secure data storage, and authentication features, ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of user data.
Versatile Integration Capabilities: Small PDF seamlessly integrates with third-party applications and services, enabling users to leverage additional functionalities and streamline workflows, enhancing overall efficiency and productivity.
Price：
Free or $6/month Pro.
Trustpilot Rating:
4 out of 5 Stars (889 reviews)
Pros：
Intuitive interface for easy navigation.
Multi-platform compatibility for broader accessibility.
Integration with Google Drive and Dropbox enhances document management.
Works with PDFs directly, no need for desktop app download.
Competitive pricing offers affordability for users.
Cons：
Offline editing capability is not fully developed.
Conversion issues may arise during file processing.
5. LibreOffice
LibreOffice offers comprehensive compatibility with Microsoft document formats, providing almost all features found in the latest Word, PowerPoint, and Excel versions. With six programs covering common office tasks, including Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, Math, and Base. It is a free and open-source project, LibreOffice is suitable for both home and business users, serving as a reliable alternative to proprietary office suites.
Main Features：
Exporting to PDF: LibreOffice facilitates seamless conversion of documents into PDF format.
Annotation Tools: PDF files in LibreOffice support a range of annotations, including sticky notes and text highlights, allowing for comprehensive feedback and collaboration.
Document Design: LibreOffice provides extensive design options for creating visually appealing documents.
JPEG Compression: Customize the JPEG compression settings to optimize image quality and file size.
Enhanced Security: Protect sensitive documents by setting passwords to restrict access and ensure confidentiality.
PDF Form Fill-in: Enable users to conveniently fill in PDF forms directly within the application and submit them via email.
Price：
Free with premium options from $0.10/month.
Trustpilot Rating：
3 out of 5 Stars (20 reviews)
Pros：
Free and open-source, accessible to all users.
Compatible across different platforms for versatility.
Powerful performance for efficient document management.
Impressive compatibility with various file formats.
Active community support for troubleshooting and updates.
Simple-to-use interface enhances user experience.
Cons：
Less stable on Mac platforms compared to competitors.
Lack of online collaboration features may hinder teamwork.
6. Preview
Apple's Preview app, exclusively available on Apple devices like the MacBook, serves as a versatile tool for previewing various image formats and manipulating PDFs. While its primary function is to provide previews, its standout feature lies in its capabilities to view, interact with, and edit PDFs.
The app handles basic operations such as page navigation, word searches, printing, field filling, and note adding, making it an intuitive PDF reader. Moreover, Preview enables users to perform additional manipulations on PDF files, including page reordering, rotation, and deletion, enhancing document customization options. Despite lacking OCR tools, Preview excels in providing essential PDF editing functionalities suitable for most users.
Main Features：
PDF Editing: Preview offers robust editing capabilities, allowing users to fill out and sign PDF forms, annotate, highlight, underline, and strike out text, as well as add notes, speech bubbles, and shapes.
Image Editing: Preview provides basic image correction tools, including color extraction, cropping, rotation, and shape extraction. It supports a wide range of image file types such as JPEG, PNG, PSD, and TIFF, enabling users to manipulate images with ease.
Document Security: Users can enhance document security by adding passwords to PDFs, ensuring confidential information remains protected from unauthorized access.
Markup Tools: Preview offers a comprehensive set of markup tools for providing feedback, making annotations, and suggesting changes to PDF documents. Users can utilize the Markup toolbar to easily markup documents, respond to suggestions, and collaborate effectively.
Price：
Free
Trustpilot Rating：
Not Available
Pros：
Free to use, reducing financial barriers.
User-friendly interface enhances accessibility.
Abundance of powerful features enriches functionality.
Surprisingly versatile, exceeding initial expectations.
Cons：
Limited to MacOS.
Lack of control in the Form Filling toolbar diminishes usability.
7. PDFsam Basic
PDFsam Basic is free fill and sign PDF, derived from "split and merge," focuses primarily on splitting and merging PDF files, offering a range of functionalities to facilitate these tasks efficiently.
With the capability to merge multiple PDFs into a single file, PDFsam Basic provides three distinct methods for splitting PDFs: by page numbers, bookmarks, or specific size chunks. This versatility allows users to tailor the splitting process according to their specific requirements.
Main Features：
Merge PDFs: PDFsam allows users to effortlessly combine multiple PDF files into a single document, streamlining document organization and management.
Split PDFs: With PDFsam, users can easily split large PDF files into smaller, more manageable segments, enabling efficient handling of document content.
Extract Pages: PDFsam provides a straightforward method for extracting specific pages from PDF files, allowing users to isolate and work with individual document sections as needed.
Mix PDFs: Users can seamlessly mix different PDF files together using PDFsam, facilitating the integration of diverse document content into a unified document structure.
Rotate PDFs: PDFsam enables users to rotate PDF pages as necessary, ensuring documents are correctly oriented and easily readable.
View and Open: PDFsam offers a simple and intuitive interface for opening and viewing PDF files, providing users with quick access to document content.
Set Bookmark and AcroForm Options: With PDFsam, users can customize bookmark and AcroForm settings for merged PDF files, specifying desired actions and behaviors for enhanced document navigation and interaction.
Price：
Free
Trustpilot Rating：
Not Available
Pros：
Free and open-source, accessible to all users.
Available on Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms for versatility.
Supports batch and partial processing for efficiency.
Cons：
Lacks editing or conversion features, limiting functionality.
Displays ads encouraging users to upgrade to the premium version
Benefits of Using WPS PDF for PDF Signing and Filling
WPS Office Free offers a sleek and feature-rich alternative to premium office suites, offers programs comparable to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Its robust file format support allows seamless saving in native Microsoft formats, ensuring easy collaboration with Office users. The suite also includes a commendable free PDF reader, serving as a viable replacement for Windows' default application.
While occasional ads may appear, they are infrequent and unobtrusive, allowing uninterrupted workflow. Furthermore, WPS PDF provides added benefits for PDF signing and filling, offering efficient tools for streamlining document management tasks.
WPS PDF Extensions in Google Chrome
If you're a Chrome user, you're likely familiar with Chrome's default PDF viewer, which may suit some but not all users. Fortunately, there's a plethora of Chrome extensions available to enhance this experience, one of which is the WPS PDF extension. Developed by WPS Office, this extension offers a lightweight PDF reader ideal for reading and annotating PDF files, as well as facilitating easy downloads.
The WPS PDF extension seamlessly integrates into your Chrome browser, providing a range of powerful tools for viewing, highlighting, commenting, drawing, and downloading PDF files. Trusted for its reliability and robust solutions, WPS PDF empowers users to highlight key sections, collaborate with comments, create personalized notes, and access PDFs anytime, anywhere, ensuring productivity and convenience. Whether you're a student or a professional, the extension's highlighting and commenting options offer invaluable reference and note-taking tools, making it an indispensable asset in the digital workspace.
In my personal experience, I didn't encounter any specific issues with it. However, I find Chrome's default PDF viewer to be superior, especially in terms of accessibility for printing. It maintains a proper layout and prints exactly as intended. Additionally, its highlighting option is excellent, allowing me to annotate and comment simultaneously, aiding in document tracking. Considering it's free, it's definitely worth a try, and I would recommend everyone to give it a go.
FAQs
1. Can I use a Fill & Sign app on mobile devices?
Yes, users can utilize the Fill & Sign app on mobile devices, such as WPS Office. WPS Office offers a comprehensive PDF solution on its mobile application for both Android and iOS. Along with Fill & Sign, users can also take advantage of advanced OCR features and AI capabilities, providing a complete PDF solution in their pocket.
2. How can I ensure my digital signatures are legally valid?
Crafting a legally binding document requires choosing reliable e-signature software with top-notch security standards. It ensures confidence in the document's integrity, minimizing the risk of tampering. By selecting trustworthy electronic signature tools, you enhance the document's credibility, increasing its likelihood to withstand legal scrutiny.
3. What are the benefits of using Fill & Sign apps?
Fill & Sign applications offer a digital solution for completing forms and adding signatures to documents. They streamline processes, reduce paperwork, and enhance efficiency, making it convenient for users to handle paperwork on their devices without the need for physical documents.
An Affordable Solution to All Your Needs
In 2024, there are plenty of options to explore when it comes to PDF solutions especially where you want to fill and sign PDF. We've done you a favor by handpicking the best ones. WPS Office stands out with the highest trust pilot rating, and for good reason. It's not only free but also incredibly easy to use, making it an excellent option to consider. Give it a try and explore WPS PDF by downloading it today.
