On an iPhone, pick the photos, tap Share, then Print, then pinch outwards on the preview to turn it into a PDF you can save.
On Android, share the photos to Print and choose Save as PDF as the destination. A browser tool works on both and gives you control over order and page size.
Receipts for an expense claim. A signed form photographed rather than scanned. Pages of a document someone handed you. The phone is where these images are, and sending eight separate photos when one PDF would do is the kind of small friction that adds up.
On an iPhone
iOS has had this for years without advertising it, which is why most people install an app for it.
Select the photos in the Photos app
Tap Select, choose the images in the order you want them, then tap the share button. Selection order is not always preserved, so check the result.
Choose Print from the share sheet
Scroll down the list of actions. You are not going to print anything, this is just the route to the preview.
Pinch outwards on the preview
Spread two fingers on the page thumbnail. It opens into a full preview which is, at that point, a PDF. Share it from there and save to Files.
The Files app offers a second route that is easier when the images are already saved as files rather than in the photo library: select them, long press, and choose Create PDF. It builds the document immediately with no print dialog involved.
On Android
Android puts it in the same place conceptually and makes it slightly more discoverable, since Save as PDF appears as a printer destination.
In Google Photos or your gallery app, pick the images, share, choose Print, then open the destination dropdown at the top and pick Save as PDF. The print dialog gives you paper size and orientation controls, which the iOS route does not surface.
The HEIC problem
iPhones store photos as HEIC by default. Apple says HEIF compresses better than JPEG at the same visual quality, so the files take less space. It is a good format and it is not universally supported.
This rarely matters when using the built-in routes, because iOS converts as it builds the PDF. It matters if you send the raw images to someone on Windows or upload them to a web tool, where they may not open. Windows needs an extra codec for them, as why HEIC files will not open on Windows explains.
- Camera format settingMost Compatible
- Importing to a PCJPEG unless Keep Originals is on
- Emailing raw HEICMay not open on Windows
- Built-in PDF routesConvert automatically
Photos that come out sideways
A phone photograph stores its pixels in one fixed arrangement and records which way up the phone was in a separate metadata tag. Software that reads the tag displays it correctly. Software that ignores the tag shows it rotated.
This is why a photo that looks right in your gallery can land sideways in a PDF. The image did not rotate; the tool did not consult the tag. Rotating the photo in your gallery app before converting writes the correct orientation into the pixels. PDFslime's Images to PDF reads the tag itself, so phone photos come out the right way up without that step.
Keeping the file sendable
Phone cameras produce large images. A 12 megapixel photo is 4,032 by 3,024 pixels. Spread over an A4 page that fills the frame, that works out to about 350 pixels per inch, more than a 300 DPI scan, for something that will be glanced at and filed.
Ten such photos can make a PDF too large to attach to an email. Compress the finished document once, rather than each photo, so the images go through one lossy pass instead of two.
Build a PDF from photos
Works in your phone browser. Pick the images, set the order, download the file. Nothing uploaded.
Common questions
The phone-specific parts.
01How do I make a PDF from photos on an iPhone without an app?
Select the photos, tap share, choose Print, then spread two fingers outwards on the print preview. That gesture turns the preview into a PDF you can share and save to Files. The Files app also offers Create PDF on selected images.
02How do I do it on Android?
Select the images, share, choose Print, then open the destination dropdown and pick Save as PDF. The print dialog also lets you set paper size and orientation before saving.
03Why are my photos sideways in the PDF?
Phone photos record orientation in a metadata tag rather than in the pixels themselves, and some tools ignore the tag. Rotating the photo in your gallery app before converting writes the correct orientation into the image and fixes it permanently.
04What is HEIC and will it cause problems?
It is the default photo format on iPhones, and not every system opens it. Settings, Camera, Formats, Most Compatible makes new photos JPEG instead. Photos already taken stay HEIC, so convert those with a HEIC to PDF tool.
05Why is my PDF so large?
Because each page carries a full-resolution photo. A PDF made through the print route does not shrink them to suit the paper size, so compress the finished PDF once, and use a light setting first if the pages hold small text.
06Why are there white borders around my photos?
Because the photo and the paper have different shapes. Choose Fit image as the page size in a browser converter such as PDFslime's Images to PDF, and each page takes the photo's own dimensions. A4, Letter, Legal, A3 and A5 are there when the pages must print at a standard size.