Are typed and drawn signatures legally valid? eIDAS and ESIGN in plain words

This page explains the rules; it is not legal advice. The laws quoted were checked on 11 October 2026 in their official texts: Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 (eIDAS) on EUR-Lex, its 2024 amendment Regulation (EU) 2024/1183, and the US Code at 15 U.S.C. 7001 to 7006.

Sign with a simple electronic signature

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getPDF makes simple electronic signatures: drawn, typed or a photo of your ink, placed on the PDF on your device. Everything below is about what such a signature is worth.

The EU: what eIDAS actually says

eIDAS is the EU regulation on electronic signatures, and it applies directly in every member state. It defines 3 levels.

1. Electronic signature (often called “simple”): data in electronic form attached to or logically associated with other data and used to sign (Article 3(10)). A typed name, a drawn signature, a scanned one.
2. Advanced electronic signature: one that is uniquely linked to the signer, capable of identifying them, made with means under their sole control, and linked to the signed data so that any later change is detectable (Article 26). In practice this means a certificate and cryptography.
3. Qualified electronic signature: an advanced signature made with a qualified signature device and based on a qualified certificate, issued by a provider that national supervisors audit (Article 3(12)).

The rule that matters for everyday signing is Article 25(1): an electronic signature shall not be denied legal effect and admissibility as evidence solely because it is electronic or does not meet the qualified requirements. And Article 25(2): a qualified electronic signature has the equivalent legal effect of a handwritten signature.

Notice what is missing. eIDAS guarantees that a simple signature cannot be thrown out for being electronic, but recital 49 leaves it to national law to define what legal effect it has, and Article 2(3) leaves national rules on the form of contracts untouched. That is where the differences between countries live.

eIDAS level	What it proves in plain words	A typical document
Simple	That someone put a mark meaning “I agree” on the document	A lease, a job offer, an invoice approval, an NDA
Advanced	Who signed, and that nothing changed since, backed by a certificate	Company contracts signed through a signing service with identity checks
Qualified	The same, from an audited provider, and equal to a handwritten signature across the EU	Documents for which national law requires written form; some tenders and registry filings

National differences: one example

Germany shows how national form rules work. Where German law requires written form, the electronic replacement must carry a qualified electronic signature (§ 126a BGB). For a few acts even that is not allowed: ending an employment contract by notice or by agreement needs written form, and electronic form is excluded outright (§ 623 BGB), so a resignation letter signed on screen is not valid there. A handwritten will must be written and signed by hand (§ 2247 BGB).

Other countries have their own lists. Before you sign a deed, a will, a notice that ends a job or a lease, or anything filed with a court or a land registry, check the rule in your country or ask the receiving party.

The US: ESIGN and UETA

Two laws work together. The federal ESIGN Act says that a signature, contract or record relating to a transaction in interstate or foreign commerce may not be denied legal effect, validity or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form (15 U.S.C. 7001(a)). It defines an electronic signature as an electronic sound, symbol or process attached to or logically associated with a record and adopted by a person with the intent to sign (15 U.S.C. 7006(5)). A typed name or a drawn signature qualifies when you mean it as a signature.

UETA is the state-level version, adopted by every state except New York, which has its own Electronic Signatures and Records Act (DLA Piper, July 2021, on Illinois becoming the 49th state). UETA applies when the parties have agreed to do business electronically, and that agreement can be read from the circumstances: a landlord who emails you a lease to sign and accepts it back by email has agreed.

Two limits are worth knowing:

• Nobody is forced to accept an electronic signature (15 U.S.C. 7001(b)(2)). A bank that insists on ink may.
• Consumer disclosures are special. Where a law requires that a consumer gets information in writing, an electronic copy only counts if the consumer consented to electronic records after specific disclosures (15 U.S.C. 7001(c)).

ESIGN excludes some documents entirely (15 U.S.C. 7003): wills, codicils and testamentary trusts; adoption, divorce and other family-law matters; most of the Uniform Commercial Code; court orders and official court documents; notices of utility cut-offs, of default, foreclosure or eviction on a primary residence, of cancelled health or life insurance, and of product recalls; and documents that must travel with hazardous materials.

What everyday documents this covers

For the ordinary paperwork of life, a simple signature is what everybody uses and accepts: rental leases and their annexes, job offers and employment contracts (signing one, not ending one, in Germany’s case), NDAs, quotes and invoice approvals, school and club forms, consent forms, a W-9 for a client. These are exactly the documents most people print, sign and scan out of habit.

Validity is not the same as proof

A signature can be perfectly valid and still be hard to prove if someone later says “I never signed that”. This is where the levels really differ.

• A drawn or typed signature proves nothing about who placed it. What proves it is the context: the email thread in which it was sent and returned, the address it came from, the payment of the first month’s rent.
• An advanced or qualified signature carries a certificate that names the signer, and any change to the file after signing shows when the signature is checked.

So for an everyday lease, the email trail is normally proof enough, and the habit that protects you is simple: send from your usual address, keep both the sent and the returned file. For a high-stakes document, or one where the other side may later dispute it, ask what they accept before you sign. When a qualified signature is needed, and how to get one, has its own guide.

The honest part

getPDF makes simple signatures only. It does not create certificate-based digital signatures, advanced or qualified, and the signature pad says so. Where a law or a recipient demands a qualified signature, a drawn one from any tool will not do.

The method does not change the level. Drawing, typing and uploading a photo of your ink all give a simple electronic signature with the same legal weight; the comparison of the 3 methods is about looks and convenience, not law.

This is a map, not advice. National rules change, and the exceptions above are not a complete list for every country. When a document matters, the person or office receiving it can tell you what they accept, and a lawyer can tell you what applies to you.

Ready to sign an everyday document? Signing without printing walks through it in about a minute, and the pillar guide covers forms, initials and flattening.