How to combine photos into one PDF

To combine photos into one PDF, open an image to PDF tool, select your pictures in the order you want, choose a page size and orientation, and save. Each photo becomes a page, and you get a single file that is easy to send, print or upload. It works for receipts, homework, ID documents and anything else you have photographed.

Why turn photos into a PDF?

Sending ten separate photos causes problems. They arrive in the wrong order, some get compressed by the chat app, and the other person has to save each one. A single PDF fixes this:

• the pages stay in the order you chose;
• it is one attachment rather than many;
• it prints on standard paper without odd cropping;
• many forms and offices accept PDFs but not loose images;
• it is easier to keep as a record.

How to convert an image to PDF on Android

1. Open the image to PDF tool.
2. Select your photos from the gallery. Pick them in the order you want the pages to appear.
3. Drag to reorder if anything is out of place.
4. Choose the page size, such as A4 or Letter, or let each page match its photo.
5. Choose the orientation: portrait, landscape or automatic.
6. Set the margins. A small margin looks neat when printed.
7. Create the PDF, name it clearly and check every page.

Page size, orientation and margins explained

Page size decides the shape of each page. Choosing A4 or Letter means the PDF prints cleanly on standard paper. Matching the photo means there is no white border, which suits screen viewing.

Orientation is whether the page is tall (portrait) or wide (landscape). Automatic orientation picks the right one for each photo, so a wide receipt is not squashed onto a tall page.

Margins are the white space around the image. With no margin the photo fills the page edge to edge. With a margin it looks like a printed document and nothing gets cut off by a printer.

If you plan to print, choose a standard paper size and a small margin. If the PDF is only for viewing on screens, fitting the page to the photo is often nicer. Our guide to resizing PDF pages to A4 or Letter explains paper sizes in more detail.

Should you scan instead of photographing?

If your photos are of paper documents, a scanner usually gives a better result than a normal camera photo. It crops to the page edges, straightens the angle and cleans the background. The guide to scanning documents with your phone explains the difference.

Use image to PDF for things a scanner is not designed for: screenshots, photos of objects, artwork, or pictures you took earlier.

Keep the file a sensible size

An image to PDF conversion keeps every photo at its full size unless you crop or compress it. Phone photos are large. Ten full-resolution photos in one PDF can easily become too big for email or an upload form. To keep the size down:

• crop each photo to the useful part before adding it;
• avoid adding the same picture twice;
• compress the PDF after creating it.

For strict limits, read how to get a PDF under 1 MB, 500 KB or 200 KB.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Pages in the wrong order. Check before saving. Reordering afterwards is possible but slower.
• Sideways pages. Rotate photos that were taken with the phone turned.
• Screenshots with your notifications. Crop out the status bar and any private messages.
• Mixing very different sizes. Using one page size for all photos gives a tidier document.
• Blurry source photos. The PDF cannot be sharper than the photo. Retake any picture that is out of focus before converting.

Going the other way

If you later need a single page back as a picture, you can convert PDF pages to images. See how to turn PDF pages into JPG images.

Combining photos with PDF Burrow

The Image to PDF tool in PDF Burrow combines JPG and PNG images into one PDF and lets you set the page size, orientation and margins. It runs on your phone, so your photos are not uploaded. For paper documents, Scan to PDF auto-cleans each page, and Compress PDF can reduce the size of the finished file.

Frequently asked questions

Can I add more photos to a PDF later?

Yes. Convert the new photos into a second PDF, then merge the two files. The merged file keeps all the pages in order.

Will converting photos to PDF reduce their quality?

Not by itself. The quality only drops if you compress the PDF afterwards. Use a gentle setting if you need the photos to stay sharp.

Can I mix PNG and JPG files in one PDF?

Yes. Most image to PDF tools accept both formats and place them in the same document.

Why do my photos appear rotated in the PDF?

Some photos store their orientation as a tag rather than in the pixels. Rotate them in the tool, or in your gallery, before you create the PDF.