Modern offices are designed to enhance productivity, with ergonomic chairs, standing desks, multiple monitors, and minimal distractions the norm.

Yet, for many of us, we’re not working from these productivity refuges. We’re sitting on straight-backed dining chairs, emailing from a laptop on the kitchen table. We’re taking Zoom meetings in cramped spare bedrooms with ‘Do Not Disturb’ signs stuck to the door.

There’s no doubt staying secure and productive while working from home can be a challenge. Fortunately, there are simple ways to add efficiency by using the features in your PDF file editor.

Digital signatures – because you don’t have access to a printer and scanner for wet ink signatures

Many home offices lack the printers, scanners, and multi-function devices office workers rely on for wet ink signature workflows.

People who are used to printing out a contract, signing it, and scanning it may not be familiar with the digital signature capabilities inside their PDF file editor. But it’s these capabilities that make transitioning to paperless digital signatures so simple.

For example, with pdfDocs, users can add a digital signature by taking a photo of their wet ink signature and applying it to one or a collection of PDFs as a Stamp.

Or users can create a digital signature field and sign it in one step. They can add additional information to display alongside the digital signature, like date, location, and name.

It’s simple to collect a digital signature, too, using your PDF file editor. pdfDocs users can send PDFs straight to DocuSign, ready to be shared out to clients or colleagues.

This quick process skips the usual steps of exiting the PDF application, signing into DocuSign, and manually adding the PDFs requiring a signature.

Exporting the PDFs straight to DocuSign means users immediately see an Envelope with their documents already uploading, ready to be sent.

Paperless PDF editing – so you can collaborate with your colleagues more easily

PDF file editors offer many paperless editing workflows that make it easy to share feedback and fast track approvals with colleagues and clients.

Rather than writing in the margins of a hard copy document, add comments or sticky notes to the PDF and highlight sections for review. Apply business stamps, like ‘Approved’ and 'Confidential.'

Add new pages or rearrange or remove existing ones. Redact confidential information permanently, so that it can’t be uncovered. Search for patterns like dates, email addresses, or bank account details to redact to be confident you haven’t missed anything.

You can even add a text layer to scanned documents so that they become editable.

If you need to perform major surgery on the document, PDF file editors can convert your PDFs back to Word, allowing you to make changes to the original text in its original format.

Use your tablet and stylus to annotate PDFs – when you’re used to editing with pen and paper

If you’re someone who prefers to edit with a red pen in hand, use a PDF file editor supported on tablet or touchscreen devices. That way, you can use your stylus to edit and annotate PDFs like you would with a pen and paper.

Use your stylus to write or draw freehand on a PDF. You can also use it to sign a document, highlight an important section, or suggest a change in the margins.

The ability to use your stylus and PDF file editor together helps speed up the review and approval process while working at home or on the go.

And, more generally, the higher the adoption of mobile PDF editing workflows, the sooner businesses can go paperless.

Amid a global pandemic, it helps to be realistic about the challenges of working from home.

But overcoming the challenge of staying productive doesn’t have to involve buying more products or working longer hours. It could be just doing more with what you have.

Make sure you’re getting the most out of the powerful – and paperless – capabilities your PDF file editor offers.

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