Quote as PDF: how to make a professional impression

Elements of a professional quote

A quote PDF has: your company logo in the header, quote number and date, client name and contact details, clear specification of services/products (no vague descriptions), amounts including and excluding VAT, validity period of the quote (e.g. 30 days), payment terms, and a signature or approval field.

Watermark for draft quotes

Sending a draft quote for discussion? Add a "DRAFT" watermark via the Watermark tool to prevent confusion. Send the final version without watermark once the quote is ready for signing.

Signature on the quote

A signed quote — even with a simple digital signature — looks more serious than a blank document. Add your signature to the signature page via the Sign tool. Add an approval field for the client so they can sign and return the document.

Protect so client cannot edit

Use Flatten after adding the signature to make the quote non-editable. If you want the client to still fill in the approval field but not edit the rest, add only an editing password — not a filling password. Use the Protect tool for this.

Compress for email sending

A quote with logo, product photos or attachments can be large. Compress the document before sending. Target: < 3 MB. Large files are sometimes blocked by spam filters; a smaller PDF is more likely to arrive. Use the Compress tool.

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