How to turn photos into a single PDF (receipts, IDs, homework)
Convert phone photos and scans into one clean PDF with the right page size, orientation and file size — without installing an app.
· 1 min read
Administrations, schools and expense systems usually ask for one PDF, not ten photos. Here's how to get a document that looks professional and stays under upload limits.
1. Take good photos
- Place the document on a dark, contrasting surface and shoot from directly above.
- Use daylight or a bright room; avoid the flash, which creates glare.
- Fill the frame with the document.
If the photo includes too much background, crop it with Crop image first.
2. Combine the photos into a PDF
Open JPG to PDF, drop all the photos and put them in order with the arrows. Then choose:
- Page size: A4 (Europe, Africa, most of the world) or US Letter. “Same as image” keeps the photo's own proportions.
- Orientation: “Automatic” puts landscape photos on landscape pages.
- Margin: a small margin looks better when printed.
Phone photos are automatically rotated according to how you held the phone, so pages won't come out sideways.
3. Check the size
Modern phones take 12–50 megapixel photos, and a PDF of eight photos can easily reach 20–30 MB. If you need a smaller file:
- Before converting, run the photos through Compress image with a maximum size of 2000 px — text stays perfectly readable.
- Or after converting, use Compress PDF in strong mode.
iPhone HEIC photos
iPhones save photos in HEIC by default, which web browsers can't open yet. Either choose Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible so new photos are JPG, or share the photos by email/AirDrop, which usually converts them to JPG.