Signing on screens: tablets, phones, terminals

Why screen signatures look different

When you sign on paper with a pen, your hand gets a stream of tiny signals. The paper fibres drag on the tip, the ink pulls slightly, and your fingers feel how hard you're pressing. On glass, most of it disappears.

• No friction. A fingertip or plastic tip glides almost without resistance. Your movement speeds up, curves widen, and small loops simply vanish.
• Very little space. The signature box on a card terminal or courier device is often barely bigger than a matchbox. A long, wide signature either runs off the edge or gets crushed.
• The line lags. Most devices draw what you write a hair after you write it. If your eyes chase the line, your hand slows down or hesitates, and that's where the wobble comes from.
• Uniform thickness. Most signature pads ignore pressure, so the natural swell and taper of a pen stroke is gone. The shape has to do all the work.

Where you'll meet screen signatures

Each place you sign on glass has its own traps.

• Courier devices. A handheld unit, a tiny box, often a plastic stylus or nothing at all. You're standing, rushing, and holding a parcel in your other hand.
• Card terminals. Signatures are less common now, but when you do need one, it's at a counter, in front of people, on a small surface, sometimes with a tethered pen.
• Tablets. At banks, clinics, hotel receptions, car rental desks. A bigger surface, but often you're expected to use your finger.
• Phones. In document-signing apps, for rental agreements, school permission slips. Frequently on the move, holding the phone in one hand.
• Kiosks. In public offices, at parcel lockers, at check-in desks. Vertical or angled screens, standing up, often at an awkward height.

Finger or stylus?

Often you don't get a choice: if there's no stylus, you use your finger. But when you can choose, it's worth knowing what each one gives you and what it takes away.

When you sign with a finger, make your index finger the “nib” and curl the others in as if you were holding a pen. That way the movement comes from the wrist and forearm rather than a single knuckle, and the line becomes much steadier.

Your screen version: simplifying on purpose

Most people instinctively simplify their signature on a screen, just differently every time. One day the second loop goes missing, the next day the initial shrinks. It's far better to decide in advance what stays, and practise exactly that. That becomes your screen version.

1. 1
   Find the backbone. Sign ten times on paper and look at what never changes. Usually it's the initial, one or two distinctive letters and the finish. That's your backbone.
2. 2
   Drop the small stuff. Dots, tiny loops and thin flourishes get swallowed by the screen anyway. If a detail only works with ink and friction, let it go.
3. 3
   Compress horizontally. Imagine your signature has to fit on the short side of a business card. Tighten the spacing between letters, but keep the height.
4. 4
   Keep the finish. The ending stroke gives your signature its final energy and much of its recognisability. Shorter is fine, but keep it. Our article on finishing strokes covers several options.
5. 5
   Repeat ten times in a row. If eight out of ten attempts look roughly alike, you've found your screen version. If not, simplify a bit more.

An example: on paper, Anna Kovács starts with a large looped K, writes out “ovács”, then adds a smaller A and a long stroke that curls back on itself. Her screen version is the large K, a single wave where “ovács” used to be, the small A, and a shorter, straight exit. Anyone who knows her paper signature recognises it instantly.

Your screen version isn't a different signature. It's the same movement, condensed.

With couriers and card terminals

The hardest two: a small box, a hurry, someone waiting. Speed and consistency beat beauty here.

• Look at the box before you start. Know your room before the first stroke.
• Start on the left, slightly low. Most signatures run to the right and climb as they go. Start in the middle and your finish won't fit.
• Sign in one go. Don't stop halfway to check how it's looking. A hesitation does more damage than a slightly imperfect letter.
• Don't fix it. Unless asked, don't restart; touching it up looks less certain.
• Brace your hand if you can. Ask the courier to hold the device, or set it on a steady surface. At a card terminal, the edge of the counter makes a great rest for your little finger.

On tablets and graphics tablets

A tablet gives you more space, and you're often seated. On a graphics tablet linked to a laptop, you can get very close to your paper signature.

• Lay it flat. Where possible, don't sign with the tablet held in mid-air. Flat on a desk, it's stable and your hand can rest.
• Set the angle. Rotate the tablet the way you'd angle a sheet of paper.
• Mind your palm. Some apps ignore your palm while you use a stylus; others don't. If stray marks appear, lift the edge of your hand slightly.
• On a graphics tablet, don't watch the tablet. The line appears on your monitor, not under the pen. Practise a few first.

Don't feel you must fill a large box. Keep roughly your paper size, or the proportions drift.

On phones and kiosks

1. 1
   Turn the phone sideways. Many signing apps offer landscape mode, and some switch automatically. In landscape the box is wider and your stroke has somewhere to go.
2. 2
   Put it down. Signing with your thumb on a phone held in one hand is the hardest version of all. Set it on a table so your index finger and wrist can do the work.
3. 3
   At a kiosk, step closer. With a vertical screen, we tend to sign with an outstretched arm. Stand so your elbow is relaxed and slightly bent.
4. 4
   Sign below shoulder height. If the box sits too high, the weight of your arm drags the signature downhill. Where you can, use the lower part of the box.

Peter Nagy has a routine for kiosks: he steps in a little closer, rests his left hand on the frame, and only then starts writing. It stops his signature sliding downhill.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

• A shaky, zigzag line. Usually caused by writing too slowly and watching the lagging line. Speed up a little, and look at where you're heading rather than at the end of the stroke.
• A crushed right-hand side. You started too far in. Begin at the left edge of the box and consciously leave room for the finish.
• A signature that slopes downhill. The device is at the wrong angle or your arm is stretched out. Rotate the device, or step closer.
• A broken line. Your finger or stylus may be touching too lightly, or the glass is dirty. Press a little more firmly, and wipe the surface if you can.
• A sudden dot or blob. Your palm or another finger brushed the screen. Keep your other fingers curled and lift the edge of your hand.
• Different every time. You haven't settled on a screen version yet. Go back to the simplification steps and practise one.

Keeping paper and screen consistent

People often ask whether it's a problem if their screen signature differs from their paper one. They'll never match exactly, and that's fine. What matters is that both come from the same movement: the same initial, the same overall direction, the same slant and the same kind of finish.

Try this: sign three times on paper, then three times on a phone or tablet, and put them side by side. If the screen versions are recognisable on their own and you can see the “skeleton” of the paper one in them, you're on the right track.

If you're still shaping your signature, it pays to design it from the start to work on screens too. Our article on a professional signature goes into what makes a shape both elegant and easy to repeat. In Calligra's practice mode you write on a screen and get a score for each attempt.

Special cases: left-handers, long names, accents

• Left-handers. Smudging isn't an issue on glass, but your hand can hide what you've already written. Rotate the device slightly clockwise so your hand travels below the line rather than over it.
• Long names. A name like Krisztina Szentgyörgyvölgyi will never fit in full on a small screen. Here the initials and a distinctive wave carry the signature. Our article on initials helps you make that first letter strong enough to bear the weight.
• Double-barrelled names. For someone like Eszter Kovács-Nagy, decide which name gets the emphasis. On screen, the second name often simplifies into a single arc.
• Accents. The double strokes of ő and ű, or the accents on í and é, are tiny separate movements that devices often turn into dots or blobs. If an accent matters in your signature, make it one short, slanted dash.
• Very short names. A name like Ed Tóth or Ili Kiss has few letters and can look insignificant in a small box. A larger, more assertive initial and a longer finish give it presence.
• A shaky hand. If your hand trembles for health reasons, writing a little faster with more momentum and bracing your hand firmly usually helps most. Choose a simpler shape with fewer sharp changes of direction.

Drawn signature or certified electronic signature?

This is worth getting clear, because the two are often confused. When you sign on a display with a finger or stylus, you create a drawn signature: an image of your movement, sometimes stored together with data about how you moved. A certified electronic signature is something else: a technical process that links a signed document to an identified person; it has nothing to do with how your handwriting looks.

A one-week practice plan for screens

Five to ten attentive minutes a day is plenty. Our article on practising has more ideas for building a routine.

1. 1
   Days 1–2: the backbone. Sign ten times on paper and mark what always stays the same. From that, sketch out your screen version.
2. 2
   Day 3: finger, large. In a notes or drawing app, sign ten times with your finger, large. Focus only on rhythm.
3. 3
   Day 4: small. Draw a small rectangle, roughly the size of a card terminal's box, and sign inside it. Start on the left and leave room for the finish.
4. 4
   Day 5: stylus. If you have a stylus, repeat with it.
5. 5
   Day 6: standing. Hold your phone or tablet upright as if it were a kiosk and sign that way.
6. 6
   Day 7: compare. Put your paper and screen attempts side by side. If a stranger would assume they came from the same person, you're done.

You don't have to bend to the screen. You need a shape the screen can't spoil.

Questions