Remove the Background From Your Signature
A signature photographed on paper carries the paper with it. This tool separates the strokes from the sheet and hands back a transparent PNG you can drop onto a certificate, a contract or a letterhead.
pixels
Background removal for the PNG runs entirely in this tab — your signature is never uploaded. SVG tracing needs real vectorisation, so that step does send the image to our server, where it is processed and discarded.
JPG, PNG or WEBP. A flat, evenly lit photo works best.
Three steps
Upload your signature
A flat scan or a straight-on phone photo both work. Even lighting matters far more than resolution.
Adjust the two thresholds
The background cutoff decides what counts as paper; ink strength decides how dark a pixel must be to count as a stroke. Most scans need no adjustment at all.
Download PNG or trace to SVG
PNG is produced instantly in your browser. SVG goes through server-side tracing, because real vectorisation needs the full-resolution mask.
Remove the Background From Your Signature
Works on coloured paper
The background colour is sampled from the image border rather than assumed to be white, so cream, grey and tinted scans all separate correctly.
Keeps the ink colour
A blue pen stays blue. The paper is removed by alpha, not by repainting every stroke black.
Drops scanner dust
Connected specks below a size you choose are removed, so a noisy scan does not turn into a field of dots.
Traces real vector paths
SVG export walks the mask boundaries and simplifies the contours, producing a handful of clean paths rather than an embedded bitmap.
Free and unlimited
No account, no watermark, no cap on how many signatures you process.
Two privacy paths
The PNG never leaves your device. The SVG step uploads the image because tracing needs the server, and the page says so before you click.
Turn a signature into a 3D stamp
Certificates and diplomas
Place a transparent signature on a PDF or a printed certificate without a grey box behind it.
Contracts and forms
Sign once and reuse everywhere, on any background colour, at any size.
A 3D stamp or nameplate
Take the SVG into the Studio, extrude it, and print a real stamp or a desk nameplate.
Signature background remover questions
How do I remove the background from a signature?
Upload the photo, and the paper is removed automatically. Adjust the background cutoff only if your scan has a tinted or shadowed background.
How do I get a transparent background?
The PNG already has one — the paper becomes fully transparent alpha. Drop it straight onto any document.
How do I use it in Word?
Insert the PNG with Insert → Pictures, then set Wrap Text to Behind Text. Because the file is transparent, no white box appears over your document.
What format should I save a digital signature in?
PNG for documents and everyday use, because it supports transparency without artefacts. SVG when it has to scale far beyond the original scan.
Can I do this on my phone?
Yes. Take the photo straight-on against a plain sheet of paper, then upload it here — the page works in mobile browsers.
Is it free?
Yes, with no account and no watermark.
Is my signature uploaded?
For the PNG, no — thresholding and cleanup run on a canvas in your browser tab. The SVG path does upload the image, because contour tracing needs the server.
My scan has a shadow across it. What now?
Raise the background cutoff so the shadow is treated as background, and lower the ink strength if the strokes start thinning out.
Why did it say no strokes were found?
The image is probably too low contrast. Re-scan with more even light, or raise the background cutoff so more of the sheet counts as background.
Can I turn the signature into a 3D object?
Yes — export the SVG, then use SVG to 3D in the Studio to extrude it into a printable stamp or nameplate.