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Images to PDF

Combine photos and scans into a single PDF, in the order you choose, with page size, orientation and margins.

Private · on device. Runs in your browser: your file is not uploaded. No sign-up.

Select several at once, one image per page

Why forms ask for one PDF

"Upload your documents as a single PDF" is a near-universal instruction, and it exists for a practical reason: whoever reviews your application wants one file in a fixed order, not eleven photos named IMG_4471 through IMG_4481 that have to be pieced together.

It also means one file to check against a size limit, which is why the next step after building a PDF is usually compressing it.

Photographing documents well

Most people photograph documents rather than scanning them, and a few habits make the difference between a legible page and one that gets sent back:

  • Shoot from directly above. An angled photo produces a trapezoid, and the far edge of the text is out of focus.
  • Use indirect daylight. Overhead room lights put your own shadow across the page. Near a window, facing away from it, works better than any lamp.
  • Fill the frame with the page. Every pixel spent on your desk is a pixel not spent on the text.
  • Put the page on a contrasting surface. White paper on a white table has no visible edge.
  • Check focus before moving on. Blur cannot be fixed later, and a rejected document means starting the whole submission again.

Choosing a page size

Fit each image gives each page the exact proportions of its image. Nothing is cropped, nothing is padded, and the PDF is as small as it can be. Best when the file will only be viewed on screen.

A4 or Letter produces standard pages with the image centred inside. Best when the document may be printed, or when a portal expects conventional page sizes. A4 is standard almost everywhere except the United States and Canada, which use Letter.

Margins only matter for printing, home printers cannot print to the very edge of a page, so a small margin stops content being clipped.

A common workflow

  1. Photograph each document, flat and in good light.
  2. Combine them here in the order the form asks for.
  3. Compress the result to the portal's limit.
  4. Open the final PDF and read every page before uploading.

That last step is worth the minute it costs. A blurred page is invisible in a thumbnail and obvious to the person reviewing your file.

Frequently asked questions

What does "fit each image" do?

It makes every page exactly the shape of its image, so nothing is cropped and no margins appear. Good for a set of photos. Choose A4 or Letter instead when the result will be printed or when a portal expects standard pages.

Can I change the order of the pages?

Yes, use the arrows next to each image. Files often arrive in an order set by their filenames rather than the order you want, so it is worth checking before you build.

Why is my PDF larger than the images that went into it?

A PDF adds structural overhead, and the images are re-encoded on the way in. If the result is over a portal limit, run it through the PDF compressor afterwards.

Will the text in my photographed documents be searchable?

No. This places pictures onto pages; it does not perform text recognition. The result is a picture of a document, which is what most upload forms expect.

How many images can I combine?

There is no fixed limit since nothing is uploaded, but each image is decoded in memory. Several dozen is comfortable; several hundred large photos may exhaust a phone.