Many forms and portals ask for a PDF, but what you have is a photo or a screenshot. Maybe you took phone pictures of a contract, or you want to send ten photos as one file. Turning images into a PDF solves both.
This guide shows how to convert images to PDF for free in your browser with our Image to PDF converter. It also explains how the page size works, what happens to quality, and how to keep the file small.
When You Need Image to PDF
- Phone scans: you photographed receipts, a contract or an ID card. A PDF keeps the pages together in one file.
- Many photos in one file: instead of sending ten separate images, send one PDF that people can scroll through.
- Applications: many government, university and job forms accept only PDF files. If you have only a photo or screenshot, this is the quick fix.
- A simple portfolio: put your work in a set order, one piece per page.
How to Convert Images to PDF for Free
- Add your images. Open the Image to PDF converter. Drop your images on the box, or click the box to pick them. You can pick several at once and add more later. New images go to the end of the list.
- Put them in order. Each image becomes one page, from top to bottom, and shows its position number. Press ↑ to move an image one place up, or ↓ to move it one place down. Click ✕ to remove one.
- Click Convert to PDF. The images are prepared one at a time, and the PDF is built in your browser. Your images are not uploaded to a server.
- Save the PDF. The file is named after the first image, for example
holiday.pdf, orholiday-and-4-more.pdffor five images.
There are no settings to choose. There is no page size, margin or orientation option. The next section explains what that means for your pages.
Page Size: One Pixel Becomes One Point
Each page is made exactly the size of its image. The tool counts one image pixel as one PDF point, and a point is 1/72 of an inch. So a large photo makes a very large page:
| Image | Pixels | Page size in the PDF |
|---|---|---|
| Phone screenshot | 1080 × 1920 | 15 × 26.7 in |
| 12-megapixel phone photo | 4032 × 3024 | 56 × 42 in |
| Image made to A4 size at 72 DPI | 595 × 842 | 8.3 × 11.7 in (exactly A4) |
This does not lower the quality. Every pixel is kept. On screen, PDF viewers zoom the page to fit the window, so it looks normal. When you print, choose “Fit” or “Shrink to page” in the print dialog.
- If your images have different sizes, the pages have different sizes too. A landscape photo makes a landscape page.
- If you need real A4 or Letter pages with margins, print the images to PDF from your computer instead. On Windows, choose “Microsoft Print to PDF” as the printer. On a Mac, use the PDF button in the print dialog.
Which Image Formats Work
The tool opens each image with your browser, draws it again, and saves it for the PDF. Here is what happens to each type:
- JPG: saved again as JPG at 92% quality. Most people cannot see a difference.
- PNG: saved without any loss. See-through areas stay see-through. Most PDF viewers show them as white.
- WebP: saved as JPG at 92% quality. If it has see-through parts, it is saved as PNG instead.
- GIF and BMP: saved as PNG, without loss. For an animated GIF, only the first frame is used.
- HEIC, AVIF, TIFF: only if your browser can open them. Safari usually opens iPhone HEIC photos. Chrome and Firefox often cannot. A file that cannot be opened is skipped and named in a message, and the PDF is still made from the other images.
Which format to use? For photos, JPG is fine. For screenshots and anything with small text, PNG keeps the edges sharp.
Tips for a Good PDF
Start with clear images
For a phone scan, lay the page flat, use even light, and hold the phone straight above it. If you use a scanner, about 300 DPI is a common choice for documents. A blurry photo will stay blurry in the PDF.
Do not worry about sideways phone photos
Phones often save a photo in one direction and add a small note inside the file that says how to turn it. PDF viewers do not read that note. This tool asks your browser to draw each photo using the note, so the page comes out the right way up. This works in current versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari. If a photo still comes out sideways, update your browser.
Make large photos smaller first
The PDF is often about as big as your images added together. Ten 3 MB photos can make a PDF of 20 to 30 MB. To get a smaller file, resize the photos first. For a document people read on screen, about 2000 pixels on the long side is usually enough. Fewer pixels also means smaller pages, which print more easily.
Hidden photo data is left out
Photos often carry EXIF data, such as the date, the camera model and the GPS location. Because every image is drawn again, this data is not copied into the PDF. That is useful when you send photos of documents to someone you do not know well.
Split very large batches
Everything happens in your browser's memory. On a phone, a very large batch can make the page slow or crash. Make a few smaller PDFs instead, and join them with Merge PDF.
Summary
Add your images, set the order with the arrows, and click Convert to PDF. Each image becomes one page at its own size. Photos are saved again at 92% quality, while PNG, GIF and BMP are saved without loss. Resize big photos first if you need a small file.