Send a PDF to someone to sign, free: the email round trip that works

Prepare and sign your part

Sign PDFDraw, type or upload; flatten on save. Free, runs on your device.Open

The same tool works for both sides. The person who sends the document uses it to fill and sign first; the person who receives it uses it to sign second.

Why there is no “request signature” button

A signing service like Docusign works because your document sits on its server: the service emails the other person a link, shows them the document, records who opened it and when, reminds them, and keeps the signed result. That is a real service, and for some people it is worth paying for (more on that below).

getPDF does every job on your device and sends no file anywhere, which is the whole point of it. That rules out a server holding your lease. So instead of pretending, this page shows the route that needs no server: the PDF travels by your own email, and each person signs on their own device.

The round trip, step by step

The sender’s side

1. Fill your half. Open the PDF in the tool above. Real form fields are tinted; click and type, and Tab moves to the next one. If the lease has no fields, add your text on the lines with the Text tool (press T).
2. Sign your line. Press New signature, draw, type or upload your signature, press Use this signature and click your line. Add the date with Date.
3. Save without flattening. Press Save. If the other person still has fields to fill, they must stay fillable, so do not use Save flattened PDF yet. Your signature is already part of the page.
4. Keep the exact file you send in your own folder. It is your reference when the signed copy comes back.
5. Email it with 1 short, clear instruction (below).

The signer’s side

1. Save the attachment and open it in the browser at getpdfs.app/sign-pdf. No account, nothing uploaded.
2. Fill any fields that are theirs, then New signature, Use this signature, click their line, and Date.
3. As the last signer, choose Save flattened PDF from the arrow next to Save if the document has form fields, so the answers are fixed in the page. Without fields, Save is enough.
4. Reply in the same thread with the saved file attached.

The signer does not have to use getPDF: any tool that adds a signature and saves a PDF works. The round trip is the method, not the tool. With 3 or more signers, multiple signatures in order covers who goes when, and sending a signed PDF back the checklist for the reply.

A worked example: a lease from Graz to Vienna

Karol Michał lets a flat in Graz to Jane Cooper, who lives in Vienna. The lease is a 4-page PDF with fields for names, the rent and the start date, a signature line for each of them, and initials boxes in the margins.

Karol fills the fields, signs his line, saves with Save PDF and keeps that file as “lease-cooper-sent.pdf”. Then he writes:

Subject: Lease for the flat in Graz, for your signature

Hi Jane, the lease is attached, filled in and signed by me. Please check it, sign on page 4 under “Tenant” and add the date, initial each page in the margin box, and send the signed PDF back in this thread by Friday. You can sign it in your browser at getpdfs.app/sign-pdf, no account needed. Karol

Jane opens the file, reads it, makes her initials once with the Initials button and places them on each page, signs page 4, adds the date, saves with Save flattened PDF, and replies:

Hi Karol, the signed lease is attached (lease-cooper-signed.pdf). Signed on page 4 and initialled on every page. Jane

Karol opens the returned file, checks that the rent, the dates and the names match his sent copy, and answers with 1 line confirming he has it. Both keep the final PDF and the thread. The thread is the record of who sent what, when: for an everyday lease, that is normally the proof that matters.

What a signing service adds that email cannot

	Email round trip	A signing service
Cost	Free	A subscription; Docusign Personal was 11 US dollars a month, billed annually, for 5 envelopes a month
Where the document is	Your device, the signer’s device, your mailboxes	The service’s servers
Signing order	You agree it in the email	Enforced by the service
Reminders	You send them	Automatic
Record of who opened and signed	The email thread	A hosted audit trail
Account for the signer	None	None (Docusign’s own FAQ)

Docusign figures from its pricing page, checked on 11 October 2026.

A service is worth its fee and the upload when you send many documents a month, when 3 or more people must sign in a fixed order, when someone might later dispute who signed, or when the recipient’s rules require a certificate or qualified signature. For a lease, a quote or a consent form between 2 people, the email round trip does the job.

The honest part

Nothing in this round trip locks the text. A drawn signature does not stop anyone from changing the document before or after signing, in either direction. That is why you keep the exact file you sent and compare the one that comes back. A certificate signature makes any later change visible; qualified and certificate signatures explains when that is worth it.

There are no reminders and no tracking. If the other person forgets, you remind them. If the file gets lost in their inbox, you send it again.

It proves agreement, not identity. The email thread shows that the file came back from Jane’s address; it does not prove Jane drew the signature. For everyday contracts that is accepted practice; for anything high-stakes, the plain-words guide to signature law explains what more exists. This is not legal advice.

Email itself is not private. Mail can travel unencrypted between some servers. For a lease with ID numbers or bank details, password-protect the PDF before emailing and share the password another way, such as a text message. The pillar guide to signing and filling covers the rest of the job.