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When using Adobe Reader on a Windows desktop, one can open a PDF and use the fill & sign option. This option does not seem to appear on the Ubuntu version of Adobe Reader. How does one fill and sign PDF documents on a Ubuntu?

Cheshie
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    To be clear it is not the Ubuntu version it is the version that Adobe chooses to make for Ubuntu. So I would be asking them. – David Apr 11 '21 at 14:17
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    You have to install a later version (2015) using`playonlinux` and `Wine`. Please see this link >>> https://www.playonlinux.com/en/app-2653-Adobe_Acrobat_Reader_DC.html and come back here if you have any problems. – Raffles Apr 11 '21 at 16:12
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    Does this answer your question? [Is there software that can fill PDF forms?](https://askubuntu.com/questions/29230/is-there-software-that-can-fill-pdf-forms) – imz -- Ivan Zakharyaschev Mar 21 '23 at 11:42

4 Answers4

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How does one fill and sign PDF documents on a Ubuntu?

Not with Adobe unless you get them to add support for it.

Alternative:

  • Install and open Xournal (sudo apt install xournal)

or

  • Install and open Xournal++ (sudo apt install xournalpp, pp is ++)

(see this for a comparison between the 2; xournal++ is a rewrite of xournal)

and then ...

  • Choose "Annotate PDF" from the File menu and select the PDF to sign.
  • Click the "Image" button in the toolbar
  • Click on document
  • Select an image of your signature
  • Optional: export to PDF so you have a new copy
Dawid Laszuk
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Rinzwind
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8

I managed to achieve using pre-installed LibreOffice Draw.

Open the file using LibreOffice Draw

  1. Right click on the file
  2. Click: "Open with other application"
  3. Type: draw and select "LibreOffice Draw"

Insert the picture of your signature

  1. From the top menu of Draw, click Insert
  2. Click image...
  3. Select an image of your signature
  4. Resize and drag where you need it

Export to PDF

This can be done either from the red PDF icon on the right side of the printer icon in the top left corner, or from:

File, Export As..., Export Directly as PDF

ecoologic
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    I opened a basic PDF doc this way, and right away the page dimensions were off (paragraphs bleeding off the page edge). So... I'm gonna explore something else (online PDF tools). – Kalnode Jun 22 '22 at 20:05
  • @MarsAndBack - for some reason `xournal` worked for me too some time later. I think it was a different installation, but I can't tell you anything particularly useful on how I got it working. Best of luck – ecoologic Jun 22 '22 at 22:02
  • if `apt` doesn't work, try `snap` or maybe from the website? – ecoologic Jun 22 '22 at 22:05
2

I did like this:

  1. Create my signature with signaturely and download image as png.

  2. Install Sejda
    Download deb file from https://www.sejda.com/es/desktop, then install sejda.

sudo dpkg -i sejda-desktop_7.5.4_amd64.deb
  1. Start sejda and paste the signature image to a pdf.
Ryo Matsuzaka
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I made a tool for this: https://github.com/svenssonaxel/pdf-sign

Unlike Xournal++ and LibreOffice Draw, it will keep the quality of the signature (no rasterization), and IMO is faster too since it's specifically made for this use case.

Axel Svensson
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