How to Combine Multiple Images into One PDF File

Why Combine Images into a PDF?

Individual image files are great for editing and sharing single photos, but they become unwieldy when you need to send, archive, or present multiple images as a cohesive document. Emailing 20 separate JPEG files is awkward. Organizing 50 scanned pages as individual PNGs is chaotic. Presenting a photo portfolio as a folder of loose files is unprofessional.

Combining images into a single PDF solves all of these problems. A PDF packages multiple images into one file with a defined page order, consistent sizing, and universal viewability. Anyone can open it on any device without special software.

Common use cases include:

• Document scanning -- Combine phone-scanned pages into a single multi-page document
• Photo portfolios -- Present work samples in a professional, paginated format
• Receipts and invoices -- Merge photographed receipts for expense reports
• Application materials -- Combine ID scans, certificates, and forms into one submission file
• Archiving -- Convert photo collections into organized, searchable PDF archives
• Presentations -- Create simple slide decks from image files

Method 1: Combine Images to PDF Online

Our online tool is the fastest way to merge images into a PDF with no software installation.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Open the ConvertIntoMP4 JPG to PDF tool or PNG to PDF tool
2. Upload your images by dragging and dropping, or click to browse
   • Supported formats: JPG, JPEG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, HEIF, TIFF, BMP, GIF
3. Reorder pages -- Drag images to arrange them in the desired order
4. Configure settings:
   • Page size -- A4, Letter, Legal, or custom dimensions
   • Orientation -- Portrait, Landscape, or Auto (based on each image)
   • Margins -- None, Small, Medium, or Large
   • Image fitting -- Fit to page (maintain aspect ratio), Fill page (crop to fit), or Original size
   • Quality -- High (larger file), Medium (balanced), or Low (smaller file)
5. Click Create PDF and download the result

Supported Image Formats

Our converter accepts all major image formats:

Method 2: Combine Images on macOS (Preview)

macOS Preview can combine images into a PDF without any additional software:

1. Open all images in Preview (select all, right-click, Open With > Preview)
2. In Preview's sidebar, arrange the thumbnails in order by dragging
3. Select all thumbnails (Cmd+A)
4. Go to File > Print
5. In the print dialog, click the PDF dropdown in the bottom-left corner
6. Select Save as PDF
7. Choose a name and location, then click Save

Limitation: Preview offers minimal control over page margins and image fitting. For more control, use our online tool or Automator.

Using Automator (Advanced)

1. Open Automator and create a new Quick Action
2. Add the action New PDF from Images
3. Save the workflow
4. Now you can right-click any group of images in Finder and run the Quick Action

Method 3: Combine Images on Windows

Using Microsoft Print to PDF

1. Select all images in File Explorer (Ctrl+Click or Ctrl+A)
2. Right-click and select Print
3. In the Print Pictures dialog:
   • Select Microsoft Print to PDF as the printer
   • Choose a layout (Full page, 2-per-page, 4-per-page, etc.)
   • Check Fit picture to frame
4. Click Print and save the PDF

Using Photos App

1. Open all images in the Windows Photos app
2. Click Print (Ctrl+P)
3. Select Microsoft Print to PDF
4. Adjust settings and click Print

Method 4: Combine Images on iPhone/Android

iPhone (Shortcut Method)

1. Select photos in the Photos app
2. Tap Share and select Print
3. In the print preview, pinch-to-zoom out on the preview to create a PDF
4. Tap Share again to save or send the PDF

Android

1. Select photos in Google Photos or the gallery app
2. Tap Share and select Print
3. Choose Save as PDF as the printer
4. Tap the save icon

For both platforms, our online tool works in the mobile browser for more control over page size, ordering, and quality.

Method 5: Command Line (ImageMagick / img2pdf)

For developers and power users who need scriptable, batch image-to-PDF conversion:

ImageMagick

# Combine all JPGs in order into a single PDF
magick *.jpg output.pdf

# With specific quality and page size
magick *.jpg -resize 2480x3508 -gravity center \
  -extent 2480x3508 -quality 90 output.pdf

img2pdf (Lossless)

img2pdf converts images to PDF without re-encoding, preserving exact image quality:

pip install img2pdf

# Combine images losslessly
img2pdf img1.jpg img2.jpg img3.jpg -o output.pdf

# With A4 page size
img2pdf --pagesize A4 *.jpg -o output.pdf

Page Size and Image Fitting Options

How images fit on PDF pages affects both appearance and file size. Understanding your options helps you choose the right settings.

Optimizing Image Quality in PDFs

Resolution Requirements

The resolution of your images determines how sharp they appear when printed or zoomed in. For screen viewing, resolution matters less because PDF viewers scale intelligently.

• Screen/digital viewing: 72-150 DPI is sufficient
• Office printing: 150-200 DPI produces good results
• Professional printing: 300 DPI is the standard minimum
• Large format printing: 150 DPI is acceptable due to viewing distance

A 12-megapixel phone photo (4000 x 3000 pixels) provides 300 DPI at approximately 13 x 10 inches -- more than enough for an A4 or Letter page. You typically do not need to worry about resolution when combining phone photos or screenshots into PDFs.

For more on resolution and print quality, see our image DPI and resolution guide.

File Size Management

Combined image PDFs can become very large, especially with high-resolution photos. Strategies to manage file size:

1. Resize images before combining -- Use our image resize tool to reduce images to the actual display dimensions
2. Compress images first -- Run images through our image compressor or JPEG compressor before combining
3. Compress the final PDF -- Use our PDF compressor to reduce the finished PDF
4. Choose appropriate quality -- JPEG quality 80-85 is usually sufficient for combined document PDFs

Specific Use Cases

Scanning Documents with Your Phone

Modern phone camera apps include document scanning modes that automatically crop, straighten, and enhance scanned pages. After scanning multiple pages:

1. Save each scanned page as an image
2. Upload all pages to our converter
3. Reorder if necessary
4. Create the PDF with "Fit to page" and "A4" or "Letter" page size

After creating the PDF, you may want to make the text searchable. Our PDF OCR tool adds a searchable text layer so you can find content with Ctrl+F. See our tutorial on how to make scanned PDFs searchable for the complete process.

Creating Photo Books and Portfolios

For photography portfolios or photo book PDFs:

1. Select and order your best images
2. Use "Fill page" mode for full-bleed, immersive viewing
3. Choose "Landscape" orientation for horizontal photos, "Portrait" for vertical, or "Auto" to match each image
4. Set quality to "High" to preserve image detail
5. Consider adding a title page by including a designed cover image as the first file

Expense Reports and Receipts

When photographing receipts for expense reports:

1. Take clear, well-lit photos of each receipt
2. Crop any excess background using our image crop tool
3. Arrange receipts in chronological order
4. Combine into a single PDF for easy attachment to your expense report
5. The PDF serves as both the submission document and the backup record

Creating Simple Presentations

Image-based PDFs work as simple slide presentations:

1. Design each slide as an image in Canva, Figma, or PowerPoint (export each slide as an image)
2. Use "Fill page" mode with widescreen dimensions (13.33 x 7.5 inches for 16:9)
3. The resulting PDF can be presented in full-screen mode in any PDF viewer

This approach is useful when you need a presentation that works on any device without requiring PowerPoint or Google Slides.

Handling Mixed Image Sizes and Orientations

Real-world image collections rarely have consistent dimensions. Here is how to handle common scenarios:

Portrait and landscape mixed: Use "Auto" orientation to let each page match its image. The PDF will contain both portrait and landscape pages, which is standard and well-handled by all PDF viewers.

Different resolutions: The converter scales all images to fit the page size you select. A 4000-pixel-wide image and a 1200-pixel-wide image both produce full-page results, though the smaller image will appear slightly less sharp when zoomed.

Different aspect ratios: "Fit to page" handles this gracefully by centering each image and adding margins as needed. A square image on a rectangular page will have margins on two sides.

Mixed formats: Upload JPG, PNG, HEIC, and WebP files together. The converter handles format conversion internally, producing a consistent PDF regardless of input formats.

Adding Text and Annotations After Combining

After creating your image PDF, you may need to add text, notes, or annotations:

• Page numbers -- See our guide on how to add page numbers to PDF
• Text annotations -- Use our PDF editor to add text boxes, highlights, and notes
• Watermarks -- Add branding or "CONFIDENTIAL" marks with our PDF watermark tool
• Signatures -- Sign the document using our PDF signing tool

Common Issues and Solutions

Problem: PDF file is too large to email Solution: Use our PDF compressor or reduce image quality/resolution before combining.

Problem: Images appear blurry in the PDF Solution: Use higher-resolution source images. Phone photos are usually sufficient; screenshots may need to be taken at higher zoom levels.

Problem: Page order is wrong Solution: Reorder images in our tool before creating the PDF. Name files numerically (001.jpg, 002.jpg) for automatic ordering.

Problem: Colors look different in the PDF Solution: This can happen with CMYK images or images with non-sRGB color profiles. See our guide on image color spaces for color management details.

Problem: HEIC files from iPhone are not recognized Solution: Our converter supports HEIC natively. For tools that do not, convert HEIC to JPEG first.

Combining images into PDF is one of the most practical file operations for both personal and professional use. Whether you are digitizing paper documents, building a portfolio, or organizing photo collections, a well-constructed PDF packages your images into a single, shareable, archivable file that works everywhere.

For related workflows, explore our guides on how to merge and split PDFs, how to convert images to PDF, and how to compress images without quality loss.