Add an image to a PDF

Put a picture on a PDF page — a scanned signature, a logo, a “PAID” stamp — from an image file or the clipboard, then move and resize it and save.

Available in pre-release 3.7

Right-click where the image should go → Annotations → Create Under Cursor → Image From File…, pick the image, drag it into place, and save. At a glance:

From a file: Insert Image… (CmdInsertImage).
From the clipboard: Image From Clipboard (CmdCreateAnnotImageFromClipboard).
Move / resize: drag the image, or its corner handles, in Edit PDF mode.
Save: Ctrl + Shift + S saves into the PDF; Ctrl + S saves to a new PDF.

The image is added as an image stamp annotation. It prints and shows in other PDF readers, and can still be moved or deleted until you flatten the PDF.

Note: this is a picture of a signature, not a digital signature. To sign with a certificate, see Sign a PDF.

Insert an image from a file #

Start Insert Image… in any of these ways:
- Right-click the page where the image should go → Annotations → Create Under Cursor → Image From File…
- Right-click the page → Document → Insert Image…
- Ctrl + K, then Insert Image in Command Palette
Pick an image: PNG, JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, WebP, HEIC or ICO.
The image is placed with its top-left corner where you right-clicked (from the Command Palette: at the mouse pointer). It keeps its natural size (96 DPI unless the file says otherwise).

SumatraPDF turns on Edit PDF mode and selects the image, so you can move it right away.

Insert an image from the clipboard #

Copy an image in another program (for example Copy image in a web browser, or a screenshot).
Right-click the page where the image should go → Annotations → Create Under Cursor → Image From Clipboard, or Ctrl + K, then Create Image Annotation From Clipboard (placed at the mouse pointer).

When the clipboard has no image, the menu item is greyed out and the command is not in the Command Palette.

Note: Ctrl + V (Paste Image From Clipboard, CmdPasteClipboardImage) does not put the image on the page. It saves the clipboard image as clipboard.png in the SumatraPDF data folder and opens it in a new tab. In Edit PDF mode, Ctrl + V pastes a copied annotation instead.

Move and resize the image #

In Edit PDF mode:

Move: drag the image.
Resize: click the image to select it, then drag a resize handle. The image keeps its proportions.
Delete: select it and press Delete.
Copy to another page or PDF: Ctrl + C, then Ctrl + V at the new spot. See Copy, cut and paste annotations.
Undo: Ctrl + Z.

Save the PDF #

Ctrl + Shift + S saves into the PDF (CmdSaveAnnotations).
Ctrl + S saves to a new PDF (CmdSaveAnnotationsNewFile); it suggests <name> Copy.pdf.
The Save button at the end of the Edit PDF toolbar; hover over it for Save changes to a new PDF and Discard changes.

More ways, and the prompt you get when closing with unsaved changes: Save annotations to the PDF.

Add an image from the command line #

sumatrapdf-tool run with a short JavaScript program adds an image stamp. stamp-image.js:

// usage: sumatrapdf-tool run stamp-image.js in.pdf image.png out.pdf
var doc = mupdf.Document.openDocument(scriptArgs[0]);
var page = doc.loadPage(0);
var img = new mupdf.Image(scriptArgs[1]);
var annot = page.createAnnotation("Stamp");
// [left, top, right, bottom] in points (1/72 inch) from the top-left corner of the page
annot.setRect([400, 40, 400 + img.getWidth() / 2, 40 + img.getHeight() / 2]);
annot.setStampImage(img);
annot.update();
doc.save(scriptArgs[2]);

sumatrapdf-tool run stamp-image.js invoice.pdf logo.png out.pdf

loadPage(0) is the first page.

Tips #

Use a PNG with a transparent background for a signature, so only the ink covers the page.
Scan or photograph your signature at a high resolution and scale it down on the page: it stays sharp when printed.
Put the image on the clipboard once and use Image From Clipboard on every page that needs it.
Flatten the PDF before sending it if the image shouldn’t be moved or removed.