How to turn iPhone photos into a PDF

You can turn a photo into a PDF on your iPhone without installing anything. The fastest way is the Files app. Select one or more photos there, tap More (…) and choose Create PDF. Another option is to print the photos to a PDF from the Photos app. For paper documents such as an ID or a receipt, the built-in document scanner works better because it crops and straightens the page. Expect large files. Five phone photos can easily make a PDF of around 20 MB.

Checked in November 2026 on iOS 26.7.2.

Which way to pick

Starting point	Best way
A sheet of paper in front of you	Document scanner
A few photos already in your library	Files app or Print
Many photos, fixed page size, no location data	Browser tool

Option 1: Create PDF in the Files app

The Files app only sees files stored in it. Photos from your library need to be copied over first.

1. Open Photos, tap Select and pick your photos.
2. Tap the Share button, then Save to Files. Choose a folder such as On My iPhone and tap Save.
3. Open the Files app and go to that folder.
4. Tap More (…) at the top right, then Select. Tap the photos.
5. Tap More (…) at the bottom right, then Create PDF under Quick Actions.

The PDF appears in the same folder. For a single photo, touch and hold the file and choose Quick Actions › Create PDF. Apple doesn’t say in which order the pages end up. Check the finished PDF. For a fixed order, use Option 5.

You don’t get to pick a page size such as Letter. When you print it on Letter paper, the print dialog scales it to fit.

Option 2: Print to PDF from Photos

1. Select one or more photos in the Photos app.
2. Tap the Share button. Swipe up in the list and tap Print.
3. In Print Options, tap the Share button at the top, then Save to Files.

That saves the photo as a PDF.

Option 3: The document scanner for paper

If the document is right in front of you, skip the Camera app. The scanner finds the edges of the page, straightens photos taken at an angle and saves a PDF right away.

• In the Files app: tap More (…), then Scan Documents.
• In Notes: open a note, tap the paperclip button, then Scan Documents.

In Auto mode the iPhone takes the shot on its own. Otherwise tap the shutter, drag the corners into place and tap Keep Scan. Scan more pages into the same document one after another, then tap Save. For photos already in your library, the scanner can’t help.

Option 4: A shortcut you can reuse

If you do this a lot, build a shortcut. In the Shortcuts app, create a new one that accepts images from the share sheet and add the Make PDF action. It then shows up in the list whenever you share a photo. Action names may differ depending on your iOS version.

Option 5: In the browser, when you need more control

The built-in tools cover most cases. A browser tool helps when you want to arrange many photos in a set order, need Letter or A4 pages with a margin, or want to be sure the location stays out of the PDF. Convert JPG to PDF does this in Safari without installing anything.

1. Open the page in Safari and tap Choose files.
2. Pick Photo Library and select your photos. The tool accepts HEIC as it is.
3. Put the photos in order by dragging a row by its handle or with the arrows.
4. Choose the page size (A4, US Letter or Same as image) and the margin (Narrow at 10 mm, about 0.4 in, or None). A4 is preselected, so switch to US Letter if you’re printing in the US.
5. Tap Create PDF and download the file.

Your photos aren’t uploaded. Safari builds the PDF on your phone. On an iPhone, one PDF holds up to 200 JPGs and 100 MB in total. HEIC photos are converted to JPG first. On an iPhone, those photos also share a cap on their total pixel count, so far fewer of them fit into one PDF. The tool page lists the exact limit, and the tool tells you when you reach it. HEIC photos above 16 megapixels are scaled down to 16 megapixels on the way, which is plenty for prints up to Letter size. JPGs go in unchanged.

The tool has two gaps. It doesn’t crop or straighten pages, which is what the scanner is for. And it has no setting that shrinks the PDF for upload portals.

How large will the PDF be?

A PDF usually takes your photos at full size. In our test, five JPG photos totaling 19.8 MB became a PDF of 19.1 MB. HEIC photos grow when they’re turned into JPG, because HEIC compresses more efficiently.

If a portal only accepts 2 or 5 MB, you have three options.

• Capture paper documents with the scanner instead of the camera. It crops away everything outside the page.
• Save the photos as JPG at a lower quality first with Convert images to JPG, PNG or WebP. Open Settings and move the Quality slider to the left. Small print should still be easy to read afterwards.
• Split the pages across several PDFs if the portal accepts more than one file.

Is the location in the PDF?

iPhone photos usually carry the exact place where you took them. Apple doesn’t say whether the built-in tools copy it into the PDF.

When you share from the Photos app, tap Options at the top and turn off Location. Apple doesn’t say explicitly whether this also covers Save to Files and Print. The browser tool only takes the image data and color profile from JPG photos. Location, capture time and camera model stay out of the PDF.

Photograph documents so they’re readable

• Put the page on a dark, flat surface.
• Shoot in daylight without flash so nothing reflects.
• Hold the iPhone parallel to the page so the lines stay straight.
• Zoom into the preview before sending and check that small print is sharp.