Have you been looking for editable first day of school signs lately?
There are many paid options out there, whether on Etsy or other retail stores.
But today I have a treat for you. A set of editable back-to-school signs completely free!
On top of that, you can choose your preferred colors – basic colors, for girls or for boys from two entirely different designs. A chalkboard sign and a paper sign.
You also have an option to simply print out the desired design and fill it out by hand. Or you can do it in an image editing program.
The best part?
I also have matching Last day of school signs for you to customize and use. Make sure to download those as well!
And now, let’s get to work.
An make sure to visit All about me worksheets for the first week of school, too!
Option #1: When you need editable back to school sign fast
In case you are in a hurry to get this done as quickly as possible or you simply don’t feel like putting extra work into editing these templates, this first option will work great for you.
Simply choose your desired editable back to school sign (the PDF version), print it out and complete it in handwriting.
A few useful tips:
1. When choosing the right colored pen or marker, the easiest way is to go for a color that is already in the design (pink/purple, blue/green, red/blue). It is a safe bet that will make your customizing way quicker.
2. Experiment with different marker tips for different sections to easily blend in your handwriting.
3. Practice on a piece of paper first. Try different letter sizes to see how they’ll fit in the design. Adjust accordingly.
For this option, make sure to download the PDFs, not JPEGs!
For this option just click on the download links below.
Free editable first day of school signs PDF
The first day of school signs chalkboard PDF
Option #2: Edit your first day of school signs template using a free online editing tool Canva
UPDATE: I decided to remove the year from the paper design, so you can add it yourself! It makes it easier on all of us, so I hope this allows you to use the designs in the years to come!
Another option is to customize the template with an image editing program. If you already have Photoshop or Illustrator, that’s great. I think they are the best options for any image editing needs.
But for those of you who prefer a free image editing tool, there is Canva.
I use it all the time to create images for this website.
But because many people are not familiar with Canva, I finally put together a video tutorial you can easily follow. I hope it will be helpful!
Another option is to use PowerPoint if it is available to you.
For this second option, download the JPEG version of the one design you like.
Here is how to do it.
Click on the image below so it opens up in a new tab, then use right-click to Save image as or the download button in the upper right corner.
Remember where on your computer you saved it!
These might take a few minutes to load, depending on your Internet speed.
Go to www.canva.com and start editing.
Here are the Canva fonts that I used in the designs (so you don’t spend hours trying to find the right ones):
When you are finished, make sure you download a PDF Print version for the best quality prints.
Last thoughts
I hope these free editable first day of school signs will make the first day of school very special in your family. Let me know if you have any questions or need any help with these.
If you have a spare minute, please share these with your mom friends and pin them on Pinterest, please!
A copyright note: These designs are meant for personal use only. You are not allowed to redistribute, alter or copy the designs for other than original purpose without written permission. Thank you for understanding.
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These are awesome!! Thank you! I made one for my daughter and my friend’s daughter. They turned out great! Thank you for the hint as to what fonts you used, that made it much easier to create these. I had never used Canva before, let alone heard of it, and they have a lot of fonts on there so it would have taken awhile if I had to pick my own. Thanks again!
I love these! Thank you! My son is off to Kindergarten this week so this came at just the right time!
I am glad you like them, Vanessa!
I am happy you found the article helpful, Emily! I am planning to make similar printables for the Last day of school, so make sure to come to check them out when the time comes 😉
Any idea how to crop the First day of school image to a full 8×10 page? I am not to savvy with Canva and I finally figured out how to edit on the printable page, but for some reason it is not a full page to print.
Jackie! The designs are 8.5x11in. If you decide to make them into a different size, they might not fit perfectly. But 8×10 is doable. Once you make you create your 8×10 document in Canva and drag the image on it, just pull the corners of the image to resize it. Then drag it to center it. You will end up with a thin white border, but that still looks good. Let me know if you need more help.
I’m trying to do this…maybe it’s my browser (Safari), but I’m not finding Canva easy to navigate at all!
I am working on a video tutorial. I will post it tonight, so make sure to come and check again tomorrow. It should help you and other readers to edit the signs.
I cheated and printed the sign out and laminated it. I will use dry erase markers in various colors and then I can just keep re-using the same template year after year since the chalkboard ones don’t have the year on them!
That is a great idea! Maybe others can do the same. I am planning to update them for next school year as well as adding the Last Day of School version soon. Glad you like it!
Hi, I like this a lot! But, I’m having trouble determining how to pick out the chalkboard. Can you please advise? I’ve downloaded the canvas.com but, how do you start?
Robin! It is on http://www.canva.com, not canvas. If you downloaded some additional program you don’t need that. Have you seen the video I posted? That should guide you how to upload the image and add text to it. You can even try to do what one other reader told me about in previous comments. She simply laminated an empty design and she is going to use dry erase markers to fill it out repeatedly year after year. That sounds like a brilliant idea as well.
Oh my! This was such a life saver! I procrastinate every year and spend hours trying to get a poster. This literally took me 15 minutes and it was so easy. Thank you so much!
I am so happy you found it easy to customize!
Thank you so much for sharing this with everyone for FREE!!! I had never used Canva and found your tutorial to be extremely helpful! I will be back to your site and to use Canva again. Happy school year to you and your littles!
Hi! I love this so much and am working on it for my twins’ first day of preschool, I am using Canva and followed the above directions but it is continuing to show up blurry…. my text is clear, but difficult to read the chalkboard writing…. any tips?
Thank you for your kind words Jana!
Lisa! What probably happened is that you downloaded the thumbnail picture from my website. You need to actually click on the image so it opens in a new window in your browser. And save that one, the big image. Then it shouldn’t be blurry anymore. Let me know if this helps or if you need more help.
Yes that helped! Thanks so much!
I can’t thank you enough for sharing your expertise! The YouTube video is awesome! I loved modifying your beautiful first day of school template and cannot wait to use it as a warm up with my class on our first day of school. Thank you again!
Thank you for your kind words, Susie. I am happy you like it!
Thank you SO MUCH! I homeschool and this was a God send! God Bless you for being so giving! 🙂
Thank you for your kind words Tanisha!
Thank you so much doll these are great!
Thank you so much. I made one for my daughter and one for my nephew who are starting Kindergarten this year. They will be holding these signs for the rest of their schooling years!
Tina, I am happy you like them so much! I am planning to make matching signs for the Last day of school year in the near future. Make sure to come back to get those as well if that’s something you would be interested in.
THANK YOU!!! It is very nice of you to allow us to use these. Once again, Thank You.
My pleasure. Glad you like them!
I absolutely loved these! I downloaded the file, created a canva account. Then when I log in and click “create a design” nothing happens. It does not give me the option to upload. Please help.
Jill! Have you tried logging out/in again? Then skip the “create a design” and click the US Letter in the first row on top. It is normally listed there. If that doesn’t help let me know again.
I absolutely LOVE this! Thanks for all your design efforts and generously sharing. I appreciate it more than you know.
You are welcome. Glad you love them, Jill.
i was curious i have a macbook air apple and im trying to do one also and the only thing thats not working. well technically that im not doing that you are, is that you are clicking something up time of screen above make public. what are you clicking?
Hannah, in the end I click on Download PDF Print, it is right next to Make public. Is that what you mean?
This was just a great post! Thank you so much for sharing!
Thank you so much! These were amazing to do for my two boys, one starting Kindergarten the other starting Preschool. I have shared this site in my Mom’s group as I know other will love them as much as I do! Using http://www.canva.com was SO easy and will definitely be using it from now on whenever I have to do any design stuff…especially birthday cards, invites, etc.
Thank you again for sharing your talents! If you end up doing matching last day of school ones I will definitely be using those as well!
Thank you for sharing, Claire! Yes, I love Canva and find it very helpful when making my own designs. I will definitely be adding last day of school signs as well, so make sure to come back for those.
Hi! I am having problems downloading the files. Does this work on a mac? When I right click it just goes to a web page. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Love your style, thanks for all the mommy hacks and help!
Which design specifically? I can email it to you.
The first day of school white lined version that I can use with Canva. I would need a boy and girl version. Do you happen to know why I can’t download them though? I love so much of your stuff, would love to be able to download more from your site in the future. When I right click, it just brings it into a separate web window and saves the jpeg as the web page vs the single document. Thanks so much for the quick reply!!
Maybe I found the answer. You probably don’t have right click enabled on your Mac, so anytime you want to right click to save the image, hold down control (ctrl) button on your keyboard as well. Basically, ctrl+click. That should solve the problem for the future. I am really happy to hear you like my printables. I will send you an email with the images just to make sure. Let me know if this solution worked.
Hi! I love your signs but wanted you to know that you misspelled school in the orange rectangular box that’s halfway down the page.
Hi! Yes, thank you! I will fix it.
Thank You! These are awesome and your video on http://www.canva.com was so helpful!
When I use canvas and stretch my pic out it’s blurry. Not crisp like yours in your video tutorial. Any suggestions?
Hi Courntey, yes. The problem is most likely that you saved the thumbnail image from my page. You need to click the design you want on my page first so it opens in a new window and then save the image. Let me know if that helped.
Hello,
I love these – thank you! Would you consider creating a matching set for the last day of school? I would love it!
Rebecca! Thank you, glad you like them. Yes, the matching Last day of school signs are on my to-do list in the upcoming months. Make sure to stop by again to get those as well.
Hi I have made one for my daughter, but when I go to download it tells me to “try again later”…? any suggestions on how else I can print out?
It sounds like your internet connection was interrupted while editing. It has happened to me before. Try to refresh the site (you might lose some changes) and then try again. Canva usually saves your work every few seconds, so the majority of your editing should be saved.
Your Awesome! I love how fast you responded, thank you so much!
You are welcome! 🙂
This is awesome! Unfortunately we don’t know which teacher my child will have, so I’m trying to edit that out. I’m having a hard time figuring out how to change the base layout of it though. If you have any advice, that would be great!
Kristina! Unfortunately, you can’t change the layout, it is a template to be simply filled out. If you want a custom layout head over to Etsy. You can get a fully customized back to school sign there for quite cheap.
Where is everyone printing these? I don’t have a color printer and walgreens/office depot won’t except a PDF format.
Really? I’ve always got my pdf prints done at Office Depot. What format do they accept? Because when you are downloading your finished design in Canva, you can choose a JPG instead. Click Download, then under File type fly-out menu choose JPG instead of pdf. Then just hit the green “download” button. And that’s it. Definitely try to do that then. Hope this helps!
Perhaps it is the size I’m trying to print. I was wanted a larger one (11×14) so it was needing to be a jpg/bmp/etc. Thank you!
do you have the link for last day of first grade 2018-2019?
Hi Mary! Yes, I’ve just uploaded the matching Last day of school signs for you to download and edit. Here is the link: Editable last day of school signs for 2018-2019 school year>/a>.
Thank you for all your work doing this! I have been waiting for something just like this and love how simple it is! Thank you so much for adding what fonts you used, I found almost all of them on DaFont and was able to download.
Attaching to a clipboard and can’t wait to take pictures next week!
I am glad you found these helpful Kim!
Thank you so much for these!! Super easy to make when you’re last minute like me 🙂
This is so cute! I love both designs and the colors! My favorite is the chalkboard with pink. Is there any way you could share your canva design with me via Canva? I would like to add a spot for my child’s name. Let me know! Thanks!
Thank you so much! Just created my Kindergartner’s sign for this school year using your adorable template and tutorial. Pinning so more will hopefully visit your page.
Hi Kristin, I have tried this method and not been successful. When I follow this instruction and print the page before I download it is crisp. Then, when I download and upload into Canva and edit following the tutorial it is blurry when printed. If you have any other suggestions I would appreciate them. Going to sleep on it and try to troubleshoot tomorrow. Thank you so much!
Hi Sarah! I am not sure what the problem could be. But I sent you an email so we can try to figure it out.
Thank you so much for the free printable! My first of 3 children start school in 2 days and I now have a first (and I downloaded the last) day of school signs to use for all three for all their school years. I appreciate how adorable the are and how easy it was to print them. Will be saving this website and coming back to look at other material. Found it on Pinterest.
Thank you SO much! These are just awesome and I’m beyond TICKLED to a sign for my little.
These are adorable!!! Thank you for creating them!!! I am trying to use Canva, but on a Mac I can only seem to right click and save them as a PDF. However, in Canva, I cannot upload a PDF. Am I missing something? Thanks for your help!!
Juliann! You can’t upload PDFs in Canva. But try holding CTRL and right click to save JPEGs on Mac, that should solve the problem. Let me know if you need more help.
Thank you! Loved the tutorial. I’ve gotten stuck trying to print and edit other designs but your explanation was so clear. Thanks for covering all the details like fonts and a free editing program.
Love our new back to school signs!!
Thank you so much for this! Your directions were so easy to follow and helpful too! You have made all my last minute first day prep so much easier! I hope to use this template for years to come!
These are so amazing and adorable! Thank you for making them. Do you have the school paper version where the school year is blank or know a semi easy way 😉 for me to change the years. Thank you again! These are a great
Thank you so much for this! I was almost about to give up because I always procrastinate. But this saved the day!
THANK YOU! This was adorable and perfect and easy! You are awesome for sharing this with the world!!
thank you very much for taking your time to make these!!!!! very nice!!!
Yay, you made this so simple to figure out, and now I have a beautiful sign for my daughter to hold today for the the pictures I take while sending her off to her first day of preschool! She is so excited to start, and this just makes it that much more special for her. Thank you for the designs and easy instructions for customizing!
I am glad you found it easy to edit, Chelsea. Good luck with preschool! My little guys are starting in two days too!
Hi there, love the designs you’ve created and sharing with us all. Just wondering please, when you’ll be uploading ‘My first day of’- the ones with lines on it- and changing the date from 2018-2019 to next year? Thanks.
Done! 😉
Love this!! Thanks so much Kristina and big thumbs up to the Canva tutorial and for listing the fonts …would have given up if i tried to learn this too from scratch.
This is a beginning of a ritual and reflection that i will have with my children
Thank you so much , love your work – Danielle
Love these and so many other printables you’ve made. Do you have a last day of school sign updated for 2018-2019? I see one for 2017-2018 but can’t seem to find ones that match this ruler design. Thanks!
Victoria! Thanks for your message. The Last day of school signs are all updated to 2018-2019 school year. When you click on the images they open up as pdf/jpeg files and you’ll see they have the right date on them. Let me know if that works.
Hi!
Thanks for doing all this, it has been super easy to follow. I was wondering if you had any suggestions on helping match the colors using Canva? I am doing the lined papered ones in the blue/green and pink/purples. I am doing my best to match but they don’t seem right, just thought I would ask.
Thank you!
Laura! The color codes for that specific design are these: purple ae84ff, pink fc79c1, green 3db39e, black/grey 212121.
First, select the word you want to change to a different color. Then click on the color square in the upper menu. Then click on the + sign which will bring out the color wheel. At the bottom, there is Color code #. Simply copy and paste the color codes I gave you to match the colors. Hope this helps!
Thanks for the templates. Can I print these in size greater than 8*10 like if I want to print in size 16*20 is that posible?
I think any size bigger will be too blurry to print out.
Hi! This sign is so wonderful! So fun to use on the first day of school! I hope that you will create a last day of school template the same for the end of the 2019-2020 school year! I will be on the look out! Thank you again for your time in creating something that is easy for busy moms to use!
Yes, absolutely! It will be posted in the upcoming months.
Thank you so much! These were a lifesaver! I’ve always bought them on Etsy. Didn’t know I could do it myself. Thank you!
I am glad I could help. Once you get comfortable with using Canva, you can even design you own 😉
This was exactly what I was looking for! Thank you so much for posting and posting the direction for canva!
Having trouble printing!
What exactly is the problem?
it won’t print in color for me
When you save it as pdf to your PC is the pdf in color? If so, then it must be your printer settings.
This is great! I used it last year and will be using it again this year. Out of curiosity, do you have a version of the sign in which the school year is editable? It would be nice to simply go in and update the one I’ve formatted from the year prior, rather than creating a new one each year. Thanks!
I am considering the editable year for the future. Stay tuned 😉
Scrambling mom, last minute decision to have my child hold up one of these types of signs tomorrow morning! Thank you SOOOO much for having this chalkboard version that I can spend 10 minutes with my little girl tonight creating together for a photo tomorrow. You are awesome for sharing this!
I love these signs! Hope to use them throughout his school years. Also used Last day signs to match!
Thank you for these! It was so easy to edit on Canva and have an adorable sign for my kiddo’s first day of Kindergarten!
Thank you so much for the beautiful templates.
Can you direct me to where you posted the video on how to edit on canva?
It is embeded in the post.
No words! Absolutely! Great design, loved it!
Hi there! These are amazing! I’ve got my sign ready but am unsure of how to get it printed. Can you tell me which options to choose under print & copy services when sending to Office Depot to print? Including paper type?
I’d definitely go for cardstock paper. And in case your Office Depot doesn’t accept PDF, simply save it as jpeg.
Thank you so much for the Free Printable signs! And also a big thank you for the video on how to edit! What a huge help! You are awesome for taking the time to do that for everyone! What a time saver! Thank you again!
You are so very kind to share these lovely signs!! I am the Grammie, who is happily tasked with printing these for my Bitties each year. Thank you so much for making this an easy task!
Thank you for sharing this and allowing us to use it. I really appreciate it. Is it possible to add the child’s name instead of “My First Day of” so I can customize to my daughter’s name?
Thanks again!
I am glad you like the signs. Unfortunately, I don’t personalize the design at the moment.
Just came across your site when looking for a free first day printable, and to echo everyone else’s comments: THANK YOU!! Not only for offering the adorable print outs for free, but also including the Canva tutorials! Thanks for giving us all the ability to capture our special moments with our little ones; you’re a blessing! I’m so excited to check out the rest of your site; adding new coloring pages and learning activities is something we’re always eager to mix in to daily life.
Hi Kristina, Thanks for the awesome posters and tips on creating one. I was looking for these kind of posters last year but couldn’t find it. Now I found this at perfect timing and used one of your designs to create for my son. Its very easy and simple. I used Adobe Acrobat pro to edit the template and added the details. it all took me like 20 mins and done. Will visit again next year to see if you can get any other new designs.
Thanks once again
Yes, if you have Acrobat Pro version, you can easily edit them in there. Glad you like the signs.
Thank you for stopping by and for your kind words.
I love these designs of yours. I used one last year and was hoping to use one again this year but every time I try to add my own stuff in Canva it cuts off half of the text for the grade 🙁 everything else shows up perfectly except for that. And the odd thing is that it does it on both designs.
Honestly, I’d have to see this to be able to tell what is wrong. Sounds like a Canva glitch of some sort.
Try typing the grade in small size first, then make it bigger gradually until it’s a good size/fit.
I figured out what to do. For some reason it was doing it when saving it as an image but saving it as a PDF fixed the issue.
Great! I am glad it worked out!
Thank you so very much for sharing your work with us all. This is the second year I’ve used your template and printed our first day of school sign. Using Canva, and your instructions, it was super simple. I didn’t think I was emotional about the start of third grade until I asked my son what he loved and what he wanted to be and am in tears over his sweet answers. Thank you from the bottom of this mom’s heart! I appreciate you.
This is fabulous and I loved your video showing how to use Canva – thank you so much!
I just used this and it was super simple! Thanks for your time and effort to make this for us for FREE! Did you end up making a Last Day of School One? Just would like to keep them similar if so! Thanks again
I can only make the size 8 x 11 inch not 8.5 by 11 inch
May I ask on the chalkboard signs . May I ask if the fonts are all the same as on your tutorial and may I ask what sizes the fonts are please as I would like to do a chalkboard one . Thank you
Yes, the fonts are the same and you can just adjust the sizes to your liking.
Love your signs!!! Printing them now for second year in a row. Have you uploaded 2019/2020 last day of school yet to match?? I always save them together so I remember I June. Thank you!!!
Thank you so much for sharing this! My daughter starts Kindergarten this week and I was looking for a First Day of School sign. Yours were perfect, and the video you created was very helpful since it was my first time using Canvas. Thanks again!
Exactly what I was looking for! THANK YOU!!!
Thank you for these! You saved my ass this morning when I realized I hadn’t though ahead for the first day of preschool. I was blessing your name all morning. 🙂 So happy to have found your page, and can’t wait to print more now that I’m here.
Thank you SO much for these!
This was very very helpful. Thank you loads. I have printed it on A3 and looks lovely. Do you have Last day of school?
Thanks again
You’re an Angel!
Sharing your work and ideas making other people’s life easier and more beautiful is so inspiring!! I’ve been using Canva for a while, and your blog has shown me more potential! Keep shining!!🙏🏻✨✨✨ Sending waves of gratitude your way!
Aww, thank you, Carol! That’s very sweet of you.
Thank you for creating and sharing (for free) such a great resource. I left getting my son’s first day sign to the last minute so needed a quick turn around. I found this easy to edit and a good print quality. Thanks Again!
Thank you!
Thank-you so much! This is my 2nd year using your printables and Canva tutorial. Very helpful!
Thank you for providing these wonderful printables! I’m not seeing the tutorial anywhere on this page. Was it removed or was it posted somewhere else?
Thank you for letting me know about the issue. It’s fixed now and the video is back in the post again. Not sure what happened exactly.
These are great! Thanks for sharing!
Do you have an Instagram or Facebook handle that I can tag you in? I’ve used your signs the past 2 years and I would love to tag you in my pictures!
Thank you! That’s very kind of you. Unfortunately, I don’t have social media set up for the site besides Pinterest. I need to work on it in the near future.
These are amazing!! I’m wondering however if you could make me a 2019/2020 one. I have the picture I took of my son holding his sign but I can’t seem to find the actual one and I wanted to keep them all. Complexly understand if you can’t. I will gladly pay you!
Which one did you need? I can change the year easily and email that to you. Just tell me which color scheme it was.
Will you make a 2020-2021 last day of school
Yes, of course. It will be up in a few months.
Thanks for the updated 2020/21 version! You really rock! THANK YOU a million! Have you added a Venmo or Paypal button for people who would like to donate for your hard work? Just a thought;)
Thank you. that’s very sweet of you to say. I haven’t but I am working on something fun that will allow people to donate if they’d like to. Thanks again.
I print these off every year. They are awesome and PERFECT! Thank you so much!!
Thank you so much for these! I saw Hex codes in a previous answer for the pink/purple sign, but what about the blue/yellow/green/red?
“The color codes for that specific design are these: purple ae84ff, pink fc79c1, green 3db39e, black/grey 212121.”
Thank you!
Hi! Good question. Here are the codes: blue #1e3e96, green #247e1c, orange #de7a22, red #e4191c. Hope this helps!
Hi Kristina!!
Thank you very much for sharing your editable 1st Day of School sign!! Your tutorial video was super helpful for editing on Canva!! This virtual year has been rather wonky to sat the least!! Your beautiful PINK & PURPLE sign template made today’s “BACK TO virtual SCHOOL” picture perfect!!
Aww, thank you! I am glad you used my sign! Good luck with the new school year!
Hi! Do you have a last day of school for 2020-2021?
I love the signs worked so beautifully for my daughter’s first day of school and i cant wait to create her last day of school sign.
Let me work on them tonight and update the article! Thanks for the reminder.
These are perfect!! Thank you for sharing these beautiful printouts. Was looking for something last minute and this came in just nice! Thank you!!!
Thank you so much for allowing us this for free and giving such a good explanation of how to do it. Amazing design! Just what I was looking for.
My pleasure! Glad it worked for you!
Hi Kristina,
Thank you so much for putting these up for free. Wondering if you have the first day of school template with the kid’s name and their height and weight? If you could upload that version if you already have it that will be a great help.
Thank you.
Hi
Thank you for making these first and last day template, I love printing them out for the photos on the day.
I was wondering if there were templates to add the photos like my first day to add the photo and maybe a date or something and last day
may Thanks
Hi Leah! Thank you for visiting my site. I don’t have any photo templates, unfortunately. Are you thinking of a separate template, something like a frame to add around the photo that you take? Just making sure I understand that correctly.
Hi! Thank you so much for sharing the files and instructions. We used this last year for kindergarten and are using again for first grade this year. I found the color codes for the pink/purple and the blue/orange/green/red in the comments but did not see the color codes for the one that is just blue/green. Can you share them as well?
Thank you!
Back again to print this for my son entering 4th grade! We have used these since he started kindergarten. Thank you!
Hi, yes!
Dark blue #1B75BC
Light blue #74D1F6
Green #8DC63F
Hope this helps!
That’s so good to hear!
Thanks for these beautiful printables. I followed the tutorial for using canva last year, and it came out really well. I went back to do another sign for this new school year. Having set it up last year, it was very easy to edit the text boxes for this year.
It was interesting to see how my daughter has changed her answers in the last year.
I am so glad to hear that! Canva has changed its look since I made that video, so I am glad you were still able to follow along and make the sign.