How to burn a signature out of a screenshot before you share it
- Step 1Save the screenshot as an image — Screenshots are already PNG or JPG, so you can drop them straight in — the tool uses the browser's
<img>decoder, which reads PNG, JPG, GIF, WebP, and BMP. If your source is a PDF, screenshot the page or export it to an image first; a.pdfwill not decode. - Step 2Drop one screenshot into the tool — The burner is single-file, so drop one screenshot at a time. The picker draws it into a preview canvas capped at 640px wide; the caption shows the true source size, e.g.
source 1920×1080, so you know the resolution the burn runs at. - Step 3Drag a rectangle over the signature — Press and drag across the signature in the screenshot. A red box tracks the drag and the readout reports the region in source pixels:
Region: 360×90 @ (740, 820). The box is captured asx,y(top-left) andw,h(width, height). - Step 4Tidy the box with the numeric fields (optional) — Four number inputs — X, Y, Width, Height — are pre-filled from your drag. Type exact values to square the box to the signature, e.g. widen
wto catch a flourish. Editing a field repaints the red overlay so you can confirm the signature is fully inside before you commit. - Step 5Burn the region — Run the tool. The processor fills your rectangle with solid
#000and re-encodes the screenshot as PNG. The burn only applies when bothwandhare greater than zero — a click with no drag is a no-op and just re-encodes the image, so confirm a non-zero region first. - Step 6Download, then post the burned copy — The output downloads as
<original>-burned.<ext>, keeping the input's extension though the bytes are PNG. Open it, zoom into the black box, and try select/copy — nothing is selectable because it is pixels. Now post the-burnedcopy, not the original.
Why a burn beats the usual screenshot fixes
The common ways people hide a signature in a screenshot and why they leak. The Signature Burner fills the rectangle with #000 in the pixels and re-encodes as PNG, leaving nothing to recover.
| Method | What it really does | Recoverable? |
|---|---|---|
| Screenshot-app scribble | Often a separate editable shape on a layer | Yes — can be moved or deleted before export |
| Blur / pixelate filter | Mixes nearby pixels rather than removing them | Sometimes — partial reversal of light blur |
| Emoji / sticker overlay | An object placed on top of the image | Yes — can be nudged aside |
| Signature Burner | Solid #000 painted into the pixels, re-encoded as PNG | No — the ink was never written into the output |
The four burn-region controls
The Signature Burner exposes exactly four numeric options, all in source-image pixels. There is no color, blur, pixelate, or multi-region control — drawing on the preview sets these four numbers, which you can also type.
| Option | Meaning | Default | Set by |
|---|---|---|---|
x | Left edge of the burn rectangle, in source-image pixels | 0 | Drag start, or the X field |
y | Top edge of the burn rectangle, in source-image pixels | 0 | Drag start, or the Y field |
w | Rectangle width in px. Burn applies only when w > 0 | 0 | Drag distance, or the Width field |
h | Rectangle height in px. Burn applies only when h > 0 | 0 | Drag distance, or the Height field |
Where it runs and the file caps
Signature Burner is browser-only (Canvas) and gated at the Pro tier. File-size caps are the per-tier security-family limits; the tool processes one file per run.
| Tier | Can run? | Max file size | Files per run |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | No — requires Pro | — | — |
| Pro | Yes | 100 MB | 1 |
| Pro-media | Yes | 500 MB | 1 (single-file) |
| Developer | Yes | 2 GB | 1 (single-file) |
Cookbook
Quick redactions before you hit post. Coordinates are illustrative but use the tool's real x/y/w/h model and its actual image-in / PNG-out behaviour.
Burn the signature off a contract screenshot
You want to show a forum the terms clause of a contract you signed, without sharing your signature. Drop the screenshot, drag over the signature, burn.
Input: contract-screenshot.png (1920×1080) Drag over the signature → Region readout: 360×90 @ (740, 820) Options captured: x=740 y=820 w=360 h=90 Burn → solid #000 fills that rectangle; whole image re-encoded as PNG. Output: contract-screenshot-burned.png • signature pixels gone — nothing under the box • the terms text you wanted to show is intact
Redact a delivery slip photo before a support ticket
A courier's proof-of-delivery photo shows your signature. Burn it before attaching the photo to a support ticket so the agent (and their CRM) never gets your signature.
Input: delivery-slip.jpg (3024×4032, phone photo) Drag over the signature → region: w=900 h=240 @ (1100, 3300) Burn → delivery-slip-burned.jpg (PNG bytes inside .jpg) Tip: phone photos carry GPS in EXIF — also run /image-tools/exif-scrubber before sharing the photo.
Two signatures in one screenshot (two passes)
A screenshot showing both your signature and a counterparty's. The burner takes one rectangle per run, so burn the first, download, drop the result back in, and burn the second.
Pass 1: input: signed-both.png region: w=380 h=100 @ (300, 760) # your sig output: signed-both-burned.png Pass 2: input: signed-both-burned.png (pass-1 output) region: w=400 h=100 @ (300, 980) # their sig output: signed-both-burned-burned.png
Square the box to a high-DPI screenshot
On a Retina/4K screenshot the source pixels are denser than they look. The readout shows the true source size, so use the numeric fields to tighten the box exactly to the signature.
Source caption: source 3840×2160 (4K screenshot) After drag: x=1480 y=1640 w=620 h=170 Observed: a little background captured on the right Edit field: w=620 → w=560 (trim 60px) Red overlay repaints → box hugs the signature → burn.
Verify before you post
The point of burning over a blur is that nothing survives. Confirm it before the image is public.
Check on <file>-burned.png:
• Zoom 800% into the black box → uniform #000, no ghost ink
• Select/copy over the box → nothing selectable (pixels)
• It is one flat PNG — no editable shapes, no layers,
no blur to reverse
• Post the -burned copy, then delete the original draftEdge cases and what actually happens
You try to drop a PDF
Fails to loadBoth the picker and the burn step decode with the browser's <img> element, which cannot render a PDF, so a .pdf throws 'Failed to load image' with no preview. Screenshot or export the page to PNG/JPG first. For redacting text in a born-digital PDF, use /pdf-tools/pdf-pii-redactor.
Output is PNG even though you dropped a JPG screenshot
By designThe canvas is always re-encoded with toBlob(..., 'image/png'), so every output is PNG bytes regardless of input. The re-encode is what bakes the black box in permanently. The file keeps its original extension in the name (<name>-burned.jpg), so it is PNG bytes inside a .jpg name — most platforms accept it; rename to .png if one is strict.
You clicked but did not drag
No-opThe burn fills only when both w > 0 and h > 0. A click with no drag leaves w/h at 0, so nothing is redacted — the screenshot is just re-encoded to PNG. If your output looks identical, confirm the region readout shows a non-zero w×h before posting.
You blurred it in a screenshot app instead
Weaker — avoidA blur mixes nearby pixels rather than removing them, and light blurs can sometimes be partially reversed; app scribbles and stickers are often editable layers. Burning replaces the pixels with solid #000 and re-encodes a flat PNG, leaving nothing to un-blur or move.
Free-tier user tries to run it
Tier requiredSignature Burner is gated at the Pro tier (minTier pro); Free accounts cannot run it. Pro allows up to 100 MB per file, Pro-media 500 MB, Developer 2 GB. A screenshot is tiny relative to any of these caps.
High-DPI screenshot — preview looks small
ExpectedThe preview is capped at 640px wide and only scaled down. The burn does not use preview coordinates — every drag is converted to source-image pixels (the caption shows the true source W×H), so a box drawn on the small preview lands exactly on the signature in a 4K screenshot.
Signature flourish pokes out of the box
Re-runBurn covers only the rectangle you set; a tail or loop outside it stays visible. Drop the burned file back in and burn a second box over the remainder, or widen w/h before the first burn. There is no eraser or undo within a single run.
Animated GIF screen capture
First frame onlyThe <img> decoder hands the canvas the first frame, so only frame one is drawn and burned, and the output is a single static PNG. If the signature appears on a later frame of a screen-recording GIF, extract that frame to a still image first.
Screenshot saved with an odd color profile
Depends on browserThe tool uses the browser's native decoder. Standard sRGB PNG/JPG always work; a file with an unusual ICC profile or a CMYK JPEG may fail to decode in some browsers, surfacing as 'Failed to load image'. Re-save as a standard sRGB PNG/JPG and retry.
Burned PNG is bigger than the original JPG
ExpectedOutput is always a lossless PNG, so a small lossy JPG screenshot often grows on re-encode. The untouched pixels are visually identical; the size change is encoding, not data loss or appended hidden data.
Frequently asked questions
Is burning safer than blurring the signature?
Yes. A blur mixes nearby pixels and can sometimes be partially reversed; app scribbles and stickers are often editable layers that can be moved or deleted. The Signature Burner fills your rectangle with solid #000 and re-encodes the whole screenshot as a new PNG, so the ink under the box was never written into the output — there is nothing to un-blur, move, or recover.
Can I drop a screenshot straight in, or do I need to convert it?
Drop it straight in. Screenshots are already PNG or JPG, and the tool's <img> decoder reads PNG, JPG, GIF, WebP, and BMP. The only thing it will not take is a .pdf — if your source is a PDF, screenshot or export the page to an image first, or use /pdf-tools/pdf-pii-redactor for a PDF text layer.
Does the screenshot get uploaded anywhere?
No. The burner runs entirely on the HTML Canvas in your browser tab; the screenshot never reaches a server. You redact before anything leaves your device. An audit-log entry is emitted locally so you have a record you redacted before posting.
Why is my output a PNG when I uploaded a JPG?
The canvas is always re-encoded with toBlob(..., 'image/png') — that re-encode bakes the black box permanently into the pixels. So a JPG in becomes PNG out. The file keeps its original extension in the name (<name>-burned.jpg); it is PNG bytes inside a .jpg name, which most platforms accept. Rename to .png if a site is strict.
Can I redact two signatures in one screenshot?
Yes, in two passes — the tool takes one rectangle per run. Burn the first, download, drop the result back in, and burn the second. Each pass re-encodes to PNG and leaves untouched pixels visually identical, so chaining is safe.
Can I pixelate or use a colored box instead of black?
No. The fill is solid opaque black (#000) and is not configurable — there is no color, blur, or pixelate control here, and that is the point: a fixed solid fill cannot be reversed. For pixelating faces in an image or video, see /video-tools/face-pixelate.
I drew on the small preview — will it line up on my 4K screenshot?
Yes. The preview is capped at 640px wide for convenience, but every coordinate is converted to source-image pixels before the burn. The readout shows your region (360×90 @ (740, 820)) and the true source size (source 3840×2160), so the box lands exactly on the signature at full resolution.
What about the GPS data in a photo of a signed slip?
Burning removes the signature pixels but does not touch EXIF metadata, so a phone photo can still carry GPS coordinates and a timestamp. Run the photo through /image-tools/exif-scrubber before sharing, or preview its embedded location first with /security-tools/exif-map-previewer.
Why did nothing get redacted when I ran it?
The burn applies only when both width and height are greater than zero. A click with no drag leaves w and h at 0, so the rectangle is a no-op and the screenshot is just re-encoded to PNG. Confirm a non-zero w×h in the readout, or type values into the Width/Height fields, then run again.
What image formats can I drop in?
Anything the browser's image decoder reads: PNG, JPG, GIF, WebP, and BMP — which covers every common screenshot format. Animated GIFs burn the first frame only. PDFs are not supported. A file with an unusual color profile may fail to decode; re-save as standard sRGB PNG/JPG if you hit 'Failed to load image'.
What tier do I need?
The tool requires the Pro tier (Free cannot run it). File-size caps follow the security family: Pro 100 MB, Pro-media 500 MB, Developer 2 GB per file — far more than any screenshot needs. It is single-file regardless of tier, so one screenshot per run.
How do I confirm the signature is really gone before I post?
Open the -burned.png cold, zoom to 800% into the box — it should be uniform #000 with no ghost ink — and try to select/copy over it, which returns nothing because it is pixels. The file is one flat PNG with no editable shapes or blur to reverse. Post the -burned copy and delete the original draft. For integrity checks across copies, see /security-tools/multi-hash-fingerprinter.
Privacy first
Every JAD Security operation runs entirely in your browser. Files, passwords, and PGP private keys never leave your device — verified by zero outbound network requests during processing.