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How to combine photos into one PDF (receipts and documents)
Short answer
- Add your photos to Image to PDF in the order you want and they become one PDF.
- For small items like receipts, Photo layout places up to 4 photos on each A4 page, cutting the page count.
- A clean background when shooting, and cropping away the edges before converting, make a far tidier result.
When you would do this
Expense claims, insurance claims, rental applications, school assignments and benefits forms often ask for “one PDF” of documents you only have as photos. Sending ten separate JPGs is easy to get wrong and hard for the recipient to review, while one ordered PDF is simple to check.
Shoot for a better result
- Place white paper on a dark surface so the edges stand out and are easy to crop.
- Light the page from the side rather than directly above, so your phone does not cast a shadow over it.
- Hold the phone parallel to the page; tilting it turns text into a keystone shape.
- iPhone photos saved as HEIC may be rejected by some sites. See what to do when HEIC photos will not open.
Steps
- If needed, trim the desk and background with Crop Image.
- Add the photos to Image to PDF and use the up and down buttons to set their order.
- Choose Basic conversion when each photo is a full page, or Photo layout for receipts, cards and other small items.
- In Basic conversion, pick the paper size (Auto, A4 or Letter), margins and orientation. In Photo layout, pick A4 portrait or landscape, 1–4 photos per page, the arrangement (grid, single row or single column), and margins and spacing in millimetres. Check the layout preview.
- Download the PDF. If it is too big for the form, shrink it with Compress PDF.
Basic conversion or Photo layout?
| Basic conversion | Photo layout | |
|---|---|---|
| Photos per page | One | 1, 2, 3 or 4 |
| Paper | Auto, A4 or Letter | A4 portrait or landscape |
| Best for | Full-page forms and letters | Receipts, tickets, ID cards, small notes |
| Five photos give | Five pages | Three pages at two per page (last page has one empty slot) |
In both modes each photo keeps its proportions and is fitted into its page or slot without cropping or stretching. Readability matters more than page count: for a stack of card receipts, two to four per A4 page usually keeps totals and dates readable, while long till receipts are clearer in a single row or one per page. If the smallest text in the preview is hard to read, use fewer photos per page.
Checking the PDF
- Open the downloaded file and check the page count and order.
- Zoom in on totals, dates and reference numbers.
- The photos stay as images: the text in them is not searchable or copyable, because no OCR is performed.