Why convert images to PDF
A PDF is often the only format an institution will accept. Job applications, visa submissions, university enrolment, insurance claims and expense reports routinely specify PDF, and a folder of photographs will be rejected however clear they are.
There are practical reasons beyond compliance. A single PDF keeps a set of related pages together in a defined order, which a batch of loose image files does not. It opens identically on any device without depending on which image viewer is installed. And it prints predictably, whereas printing an image file gives wildly different results depending on the application.
Photographing documents well
Most images converted to PDF are photographs of paper, and the quality of the photograph determines whether the result is acceptable. Diffuse daylight beats overhead room lighting, which casts a shadow of the phone across the page. Shoot square to the paper rather than at an angle, since perspective distortion is hard to correct afterwards. Place the document on a plain contrasting surface so the edges are clearly defined.
Check the result before converting. Text that is unreadable at full zoom in the photograph will be unreadable in the PDF, and many rejected applications come down to an illegible scan rather than a missing one.
Page size options
Fitting the page to the image preserves the exact proportions of each photograph, producing a PDF whose pages vary in size. That is fine for on-screen viewing and is the best choice when the images have different shapes.
Choosing A4 or Letter places each image centred on a standard page, scaled to fit while keeping its proportions. This is what you want for anything that will be printed, or where a recipient expects a conventional document. Adding a margin is worth doing for print, since most printers cannot reproduce right to the paper edge.
Order and orientation
Pages appear in the order listed, so arrange them before converting using the arrows beside each file. If your photographs are a mixture of portrait and landscape, either use the fit-to-image option or rotate them before converting, since the tool scales rather than rotates.
File size
Photographs from a modern phone are large, and a PDF containing ten of them can easily exceed twenty megabytes — above most email limits. Images are encoded at high quality here to keep documents legible. If the result is too large, reduce the images first with an image compressor and then convert.
Processed locally
The PDF is assembled in your browser. Since the images being converted are typically identification documents, certificates and financial paperwork, it matters that none of it is uploaded to a server.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I combine several images into one PDF?
Yes. Add as many as you like and each becomes a page, in the order shown in the list.
Which page size should I choose?
Fit-to-image preserves exact proportions and suits on-screen viewing. A4 or Letter is better for anything that will be printed or submitted formally.
Why is my PDF so large?
Phone photographs contain a great deal of data. Compress the images before converting if you need to stay under an email attachment limit.
Are my images uploaded?
No. The PDF is built entirely in your browser, which matters when converting identification or financial documents.
Can I reorder the pages?
Yes. Use the up and down arrows beside each image before creating the PDF.