How to Convert JPG to PDF (Free Methods That Actually Work)

Last week, a friend asked me to help her submit photos of her ID for a rental application. The form only accepted PDF files. She had JPEG photos from her phone. Should be simple, right?

It is. But the number of people who get stuck on this conversion — or who don't know how to do it without downloading sketchy software — is surprisingly high. So let's walk through it properly.

Why Would You Even Want a JPG as a PDF?

Good question. There are actually quite a few reasons:

• Official submissions. Many government forms, job applications, and legal processes specifically ask for PDF files. They don't want loose JPGs.
• Combining multiple images. You scanned five pages of a contract with your phone camera. Now you want them in a single document, not five separate image files.
• Consistent formatting. PDFs look the same everywhere. A JPG might display differently depending on the viewer, the screen resolution, or the app opening it. PDFs are predictable.
• Professional appearance. Sending someone a PDF just looks more put-together than attaching a bunch of image files to an email. It's a small thing, but it matters.
• File size management. A PDF can actually be smaller than the original JPG if you use the right compression settings. Not always, but often enough to be worth it.

Method 1: Browser-Based Conversion (My Favorite)

I use PeacefulPDF's JPG to PDF converter for this. Full disclosure — I'm obviously biased since I'm writing on this blog. But I genuinely like it because everything happens in your browser. No upload to any server. Your photos stay on your device.

Here's the process:

1. Go to the JPG to PDF tool
2. Drop in your image(s) — works with JPG, JPEG, and PNG
3. Arrange them in the order you want (if doing multiple images)
4. Pick your page size (A4, Letter, or fit to image)
5. Download your PDF

The whole thing takes about 10 seconds per image. I tested it with 30 phone photos once and it handled them all without choking. The resulting PDF was well-organized and the image quality was identical to the originals.

What I really appreciate is the "fit to image" option. Some tools force every image onto an A4 page, which means your photos end up tiny with huge white margins around them. Fit to image makes each PDF page exactly the size of the photo. Way cleaner.

Method 2: The Print-to-PDF Trick

This works on every modern operating system, and you don't need any extra tools. It's a bit of a hack, but it gets the job done.

On Windows:

1. Right-click the JPG file
2. Select "Print"
3. Choose "Microsoft Print to PDF" as your printer
4. Adjust settings (paper size, orientation, margins)
5. Click Print and choose where to save the PDF

On Mac:

1. Open the image in Preview
2. Go to File → Export as PDF
3. Pick a name and location, click Save

On Mac (alternative): You can also do File → Print → PDF → Save as PDF. Same result, slightly different path.

The print-to-PDF method has one significant weakness: it's terrible for batch conversion. If you have 20 images, you'd need to do this 20 times. And combining multiple images into a single PDF is basically impossible with this approach unless you use Preview on Mac (which can do it, but the process is clunky).

Method 3: Preview on Mac (Multiple Images)

Preview is actually pretty capable for this specific task. Here's the trick for combining multiple JPGs into one PDF:

1. Open the first image in Preview
2. Show the sidebar (View → Thumbnails)
3. Drag additional images into the sidebar
4. Arrange them in the order you want
5. File → Export as PDF

It works, but it's not super intuitive. I've watched people struggle with the dragging step because the thumbnails don't always cooperate. Sometimes you drop an image and it replaces the current one instead of adding alongside it. You need to drop it between existing thumbnails in the sidebar, not on top of them.

Also, Preview doesn't give you much control over page size or margins. It just puts each image on whatever page size it thinks is right. Usually that's fine, but sometimes you get unexpected results.

Method 4: Mobile Apps

If you're working from your phone (which is how most people take the photos in the first place), there are a few decent apps:

• iOS: The Files app can create PDFs. Select your images, tap the share button, choose "Create PDF." Simple and built-in.
• Android: Google Drive has a scan feature that creates PDFs from camera photos. Not exactly a converter, but it works for documents.
• Both platforms: Microsoft Lens is free and does a great job of converting photos (especially documents) to PDF. It also straightens and crops intelligently.

I actually use Microsoft Lens a lot for scanning receipts and documents with my phone. The edge detection is surprisingly good — it finds the edges of the paper and crops out the desk/table/whatever underneath.

Image Quality: What Happens During Conversion?

A question I see often: "Will converting my JPG to PDF reduce the quality?"

Short answer: it shouldn't. A well-built converter embeds the original image data into the PDF without re-compressing it. The image in the PDF should be identical to the original JPG.

Long answer: some tools do re-compress images during conversion, especially if they have a "reduce file size" option enabled by default. This can cause quality loss, particularly with photos. If image quality matters to you, check whether your tool is re-compressing.

PeacefulPDF embeds images at their original resolution. If you want a smaller file, you can always compress the PDF after conversion — that way it's your choice, not a hidden default.

Common Scenarios and What I'd Do

Scenario 1: Submitting ID Photos

You photographed your driver's license and passport. The application wants one PDF. Use any converter, drop both images in, make sure they're in the right order (ID first, then passport, or whatever they asked for). Download. Done.

For privacy, I'd use a local tool here. You're dealing with identity documents. There's no reason those photos should touch anyone else's server.

Scenario 2: Creating a Photo Portfolio

You have 50 photos you want in a single PDF for sharing. This is where batch conversion shines. A browser tool or desktop app can handle this much better than the print-to-PDF method. Make sure you're using a "fit to image" page setting so your photos look right.

Scenario 3: Scanned Document Pages

You scanned a multi-page document with your phone camera. Each page is a separate JPG. You want one PDF that looks like the original document.

Convert all the images to PDF in the correct order, then consider running OCR (Optical Character Recognition) on the result. This makes the text in your scanned images searchable and selectable. Super handy if you need to find something later.

Scenario 4: Sending Photos to a Print Shop

Print shops often prefer PDF over JPG because they can control print settings more precisely. Convert your photos to PDF at their original resolution — don't compress anything. The print shop needs every pixel they can get.

File Size Considerations

One thing to be aware of: a PDF containing a high-resolution photo can be large. A 12-megapixel phone photo might be 4-8 MB as a JPG. As a PDF, it'll be roughly the same size (sometimes slightly larger due to PDF overhead, sometimes slightly smaller).

If you're hitting file size limits on email attachments or upload forms, you have two options:

1. Reduce the image resolution before converting (most image editors can do this)
2. Convert to PDF first, then compress the PDF

Option 2 is usually easier because PDF compression tools can optimize images inside the document automatically.

What About Other Image Formats?

JPG is the most common, but you might also have PNG, TIFF, BMP, or WebP images. Most of the methods I described work with PNG as well. TIFF and BMP are less commonly supported by web-based tools but work fine with desktop software.

If you have a PNG with transparency (a logo on a transparent background, for example), be aware that PDFs don't display transparency the same way. The transparent areas will typically appear white in the PDF. This is usually fine, but worth knowing if you're expecting the transparency to carry over.

The Bottom Line

Converting a JPG to PDF is genuinely easy. The hardest part is choosing which method to use, and honestly, any of them work. If I had to recommend one approach:

• Single image, quick and dirty: Print to PDF (built into your OS)
• Multiple images, privacy matters: Browser-based local tool
• Phone photos of documents: Microsoft Lens or iOS Files app
• Need maximum control: Adobe Acrobat or a desktop image editor

For most people in most situations, a free browser tool does the job in seconds. Don't overthink it. Convert, check the result looks right, and move on with your day.