How to Convert an Image to PDF on a Mac
Preview turns one image into a PDF, and Finder's Create PDF quick action combines several in the order you click them. Apple's steps for both, and when a browser tool is the better fit.
To convert an image to PDF on a Mac, open it in Preview, choose File > Export, pick PDF from the Format pop-up menu, and click Save. To turn several images into one PDF, select them in Finder in the order you want, Control-click the selection, and choose Quick Actions > Create PDF. Both come with macOS, so there is nothing to install.
The steps below follow Apple's own user guides, which covered macOS 27 Golden Gate when we read them on 10 November 2026. If you need every page at A4 or US Letter size, neither of these two routes asks for a page size, and Image to PDF does it in your browser without uploading the file.
Which Mac route fits your images?
| You have | Use | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| One image | Preview, File > Export | A PDF, with an optional password |
| Several images that belong together | Finder, Quick Actions > Create PDF | One PDF, pages in the order you selected the files |
| Images that must sit on A4 or Letter pages | Image to PDF in a browser | One PDF, each image centred on a fixed page size |
Convert one image to PDF in Preview
Apple's guide Convert image file types using Preview on Mac gives these steps:
- Open the image in Preview.
- Choose File > Export.
- Click the Format pop-up menu and choose PDF. The other choices Apple lists are HEIC, JPEG, JPEG-2000, OpenEXR, PNG and TIFF.
- Type a new name or pick a folder if you want, then click Save.
With PDF selected, the same page says you can apply a Quartz filter or encrypt the file so only people with the password can open it. The browser tool offers neither of those: it can't password-protect the PDF or apply a filter.
Apple also describes converting several files at once by opening them in one Preview window and selecting them in the sidebar first. The guide presents that as a batch conversion, not a way to merge them, so for a single multi-page PDF use Finder instead.
Combine several images into one PDF from Finder
Apple's guide Combine files into a PDF on Mac covers this:
- Open a Finder window, or work on the desktop.
- Select the images in the order you want the pages. Apple states that the files appear in the PDF in the same order that you select them, so Command-click them one at a time, in page order.
- Control-click the selection, then choose Quick Actions > Create PDF.
Finder creates the PDF automatically, with a name similar to the first file you selected, so rename it before you send it. If the Finder window shows its Preview pane (View > Show Preview), the same Create PDF button sits at the bottom of that pane. For the reasons to merge rather than send separate files, such as both sides of an ID card, see our guide to merging images into one PDF.
Use Image to PDF when you need A4 or Letter pages
Neither Apple page mentions choosing a page size. Some forms and printers expect standard pages, and that is where the browser route helps:
- Open Image to PDF in Safari or any browser and drop in your images. It takes JPG, PNG, WebP, BMP and GIF files, up to 50 at a time.
- Drag the thumbnails into page order. Each image gets its own page.
- Pick a page size: A4, Letter, or Auto, which makes each page the shape of its image. For A4 and Letter, choose portrait or landscape.
- Create the PDF and download it.
Know what the tool does to your images before you rely on it. Every page is re-saved as a JPEG at quality 0.92, so a sharp PNG screenshot is no longer lossless inside the PDF. Transparent areas turn white. Every page keeps a white margin of at least 10mm around the image, including on Auto. The text in a photographed document stays a picture: the tool doesn't run text recognition. Your images are processed in the browser and never uploaded. Merge Images to PDF runs the same engine, if that's the page you have bookmarked.
HEIC isn't on the tool's list of accepted formats, and photos from an iPhone often arrive on a Mac as HEIC. HEIC is in Preview's own Format menu, so the Preview route above handles those files directly, or you can follow our guide to converting HEIC to JPG on a Mac first.
FAQ
Why is my PDF too big to upload?
It carries the full size of your photos. Shrink the pixel dimensions before converting; our guide to turning a photo into a PDF that forms accept explains why that works better than compressing the file.
Can I change the page order after creating the PDF in Finder?
The Create PDF step has no reorder option. Either open the PDF in Preview and move the pages there (Apple's Preview guide has a page on adding, deleting and moving PDF pages), or delete it and select the files again in the right order.
Is there a way to do this on my iPhone too?
Yes. Our iPhone and Android guide covers Preview on iPhone and Chrome on Android.