How to Convert JPG to PDF (and PNG, Photos) Online

Photos of a document are awkward to send. A single PDF opens the same on every device and keeps the pages in order. This guide shows how to turn JPG and PNG images into one PDF and how to get a result that is readable and small.

When to turn pictures into a PDF

Phones have become the world's most common document scanner. You photograph an ID card, a certificate, a handwritten note or the pages of a form, and then you have to send them. Attaching eight separate pictures is clumsy: they can arrive in the wrong order, some apps compress them heavily, and a recipient has to open each one. A single PDF fixes all of that, and many official portals accept only PDF anyway.

Step by step: convert JPG to PDF

1. Open JPG to PDF.
2. Choose your images or drop them on the page. JPG, PNG, WEBP, HEIC, GIF and BMP are accepted, and you can add more later with Add more images.
3. Put the thumbnails in order: drag them, use the arrows on each picture, or press Sort A–Z to order them by file name.
4. Choose the page size (A4, Letter, or Same as image), the orientation and the margin. Turn on Limit file size if the PDF must stay under a limit.
5. Press Convert to PDF. One PDF downloads, with one page per image in the order shown.
6. Open the PDF and check that the pages are in the right order and readable.

How the page size is decided

You choose. With A4 or Letter, every picture is placed on a page of that size, scaled to fit inside the margin without stretching, and centred. Auto orientation turns the page to landscape for wide pictures and keeps it portrait for tall ones; you can force either. This gives uniform pages that print well.

With Same as image, each page takes the shape of its picture, with no white border. Pages in the same PDF can then have different sizes if your pictures have different proportions. That is fine for viewing on screens, and it is the best choice for receipts and screenshots that you do not want shrunk onto a big white page.

If you would rather have one PDF per picture, untick Put all images in one PDF.

Getting a readable photo of a document

The PDF can only be as good as the pictures. A few habits make a big difference.

• Light. Use daylight near a window, or a lamp from the side so that your hand does not cast a shadow on the page.
• Angle. Hold the phone directly above the page, parallel to it. Angled shots distort text and make the far edge small.
• Background. Put the page on a plain, dark or contrasting surface so that the edges are clear.
• Focus. Tap the screen on the text to focus before you shoot, and check that you can zoom in and read the smallest words.
• Orientation. Phone photos store their rotation separately, and the tool applies it, so portrait photos do not come out sideways. If a picture is still turned the wrong way, fix it with Rotate Image first.

Keeping the PDF small

Modern phones take pictures of 3000 to 4000 pixels across, often 3 to 8 MB each. By default the tool keeps your photos at full quality, so ten of them can make a PDF too large for many email services and upload forms. There are two ways to keep it small:

• Turn on Limit file size and type the limit, for example 200 KB or 1000 KB. The tool compresses the photos just enough to fit and tells you the final size.
• If you want control over each picture, shrink them first: Resize Image to bring the width down to about 1600 pixels, then Compress Image at around 70 percent quality. Then build the PDF.

Either way, a 5 MB photo typically ends up at a few hundred kilobytes with text still readable.

What about WEBP, HEIC and other formats?

WEBP images, which many websites save, are accepted directly. HEIC, the default photo format on many iPhones, is converted automatically in your browser; it can take a few seconds per photo on older phones. GIF and BMP work too. If a very unusual format will not open, convert it to JPG first with Convert Image.

PNG and screenshots

PNG works too, and is the better format for screenshots and graphics with sharp lines. PNG files are larger than JPGs of the same picture. If you have several large screenshots and need a small PDF, turn on Limit file size. Transparent areas of a PNG are shown on a white page, so logos and cut-outs look clean.

Troubleshooting

A picture will not open. The file may be damaged or in a format your browser cannot read. Convert it to JPG with Convert Image and try again.

The pages are in the wrong order. Reorder the thumbnails before you convert, or press Sort A–Z if your files are numbered.

The pages have big white borders. Choose a smaller margin, or Same as image for pages that match each picture.

The file is too large. Turn on Limit file size, or read the compression guide.

After you build the PDF

If you need to combine this PDF with another document, use Merge PDF. If a page needs to be removed, moved or turned, see the page organiser guide. For identity documents, consider whether a watermark with the purpose and date, such as "For loan application, 14 Oct 2026", can be added with Watermark to discourage reuse.

Worked example: submitting identity and address proofs

An applicant must send three documents as a single PDF under 1 MB: an ID card photograph, an address proof and a passport-size photo sheet. Each photo from the phone is about 4 MB. They add all three to JPG to PDF, drag them into the right order, choose A4 with a small margin, turn on Limit file size and type 950. The tool compresses the photos just enough and the PDF comes out just under 1 MB, opens correctly on every device and is ready to attach.

Frequently asked questions

Keep reading

• How to Compress a PDF and Reduce File Size Online
• How to Merge PDF Files Online for Free (No Upload)
• How to Convert PDF to JPG Images Online for Free

Written by the iLoveDocuments team and checked against how the tools behave today. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix it. See our editorial standards.