Quick answer
Use A4 (210 × 297 mm) or US Letter (8.5 × 11 in) for documents, and Balanced quality for most files: JPEG quality 85% with the longest side limited to 3,000 pixels. Choose Small (JPEG 65%, 1,600 pixels) when a form has a size limit.
| Setting | JPEG quality | Longest side | Use it for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original quality | 95% | unchanged | Archiving and printing |
| Balanced | 85% | 3,000 px | Most files |
| Small file | 65% | 1,600 px | Email and upload limits |
These figures are computed with the same formulas as the JPG to PDF above. Change the inputs in the tool to see your own result.
JPG to PDF turns your pictures into one PDF, with each image on its own page in the order you choose. Add JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, BMP or AVIF images, reorder or remove them using the thumbnails, pick the page size (same as the image, A4 or US Letter), the orientation and margin, and choose how much to reduce the images so the PDF stays a sensible size. Phone photos that are stored sideways come out the right way up, and nothing is uploaded.
Made for everyone. Typical uses:
Six 12-megapixel phone photos of a signed contract, about 30 MB in total, become a six-page A4 PDF of roughly 5 to 9 MB at the Balanced setting, with every page the right way up and centred inside a small margin. At the Small file setting the same PDF is smaller still.
The PDF contains pictures, not text, so it cannot be searched or copied; use OCR if you need the text. Very large sets of full-resolution photos need a lot of device memory, so use the Balanced or Small setting or build the PDF in two batches. Animated GIFs use only their first frame.
Accuracy: Files are processed with established open-source libraries and tested with real PDFs. Open the result and check it before you send or publish it.
Expert Tip
Photograph documents flat, in even light and filling the frame. A well-framed picture at the Small file setting is more readable than a skewed one at full resolution.
Turning pictures into a PDF gives you one file that opens the same way on every device, keeps its page order and can be sent as a single attachment. People use it to combine phone photos of paperwork into one document, submit scanned certificates to an online form that only accepts PDF, build a portfolio, or create a printable booklet from a set of images.
You can add JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, BMP and AVIF images together, mix them freely, and each image becomes one page. Photos taken with a phone that are stored sideways come out the right way up, because each picture is redrawn with its orientation applied before it is placed on the page.
The page settings decide how the finished PDF looks when someone prints or views it.
Phone photos are big. Twelve 4,000 by 3,000 pixel photos can add up to 30 MB or more, which many email systems reject. The quality setting controls how much each image is reduced. "Original quality" keeps the picture at its full resolution with very light compression; PNG files stay lossless PNG. "Balanced" limits the longest side to 3,000 pixels and uses 85 percent quality, a good default that is visibly identical on screen and much smaller. "Small file" limits the longest side to 1,600 pixels at 65 percent quality, enough for reading a document but not for large prints.
If the PDF is still too big, run it through Compress PDF afterwards, or reduce the number of images. For photographed paperwork, a helpful habit is to shoot in good light, straight on, with the document filling the frame, so a smaller image is still perfectly readable.
Pages appear in the same order as the list. Use the up and down arrows to move a picture, and the remove button to delete one. Add images in batches if you like: new files are added to the end of the list. Check the thumbnails before you create the PDF, because it is easier to fix the order now than to edit the finished document later.
Once the PDF exists you can still refine it: Merge PDF joins it with other documents, Rotate PDF fixes any page that is turned, and Split PDF extracts a subset of pages.
A PDF built from pictures contains images of text, not text itself, so it cannot be searched or copied. That is normal for scans, and most portals accept it. If you need searchable text, extract it from the pictures with OCR - Image to Text before you build the PDF, or paste the recognised text into a document.
For a deeper look at picture formats and how they affect size and quality, read JPG vs PNG vs WebP. If your photos come from an iPhone in HEIC format, convert them first with HEIC to JPG.
Everything happens inside your browser tab. The images are read, redrawn and placed in the PDF locally, so identity documents, receipts and personal photos are never uploaded to a server. Because the work uses your device memory, very large sets of full-resolution photos may be slow; use the Balanced or Small file setting, or create the PDF in two batches and merge them.
How to combine JPG and PNG images into a single PDF in order, choose A4 or Letter pages, set margins, and keep the file small with the right quality setting.
Why PDFs grow so large, the two ways to make them smaller, and how to choose between lossless optimizing and reducing image quality.
Which format to use when sending, printing, editing or archiving a document, with the strengths and weaknesses of PDF, DOCX, images, plain text and more.
Explore more in PDF Tools, read the guides and articles, or see how we test our tools.
Combine multiple PDF files into one.
Best for combining a cover letter, CV and certificates into one application PDF
Convert PDF pages to JPG images.
Best for extracting a single page from a PDF as an image to share or embed
Reduce PDF file size to a target you set, or with lossless optimizing or a smaller image-based copy.
Best for getting a PDF under the size cap of a job, visa, school or government upload form
Extract specific pages from a PDF file.
Best for sending only the relevant pages of a long report or contract
Convert text to PDF documents.
Best for turning quick notes into a shareable PDF
Convert JPG images to WebP for smaller website images.
Best for speeding up a blog, shop or portfolio by using lighter images
Shrink a PDF to under 200 KB for application portals.
Best for attaching a CV and a certificate to a job application form
Get an image under 100 KB while keeping it sharp.
Best for uploading photos to a job, college or government form with a 100 KB limit