iPhones save photos in HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) by default. It produces smaller files than JPEG at similar quality, but plenty of upload portals, government forms and older Windows PCs still reject it. When a portal wants a PDF of your ID, receipt or document, here is how to convert.
On iPhone: print to PDF trick
- Open the photo in Photos (select several if you want a multi-page PDF).
- Tap Share, then Print.
- On the print preview, pinch outwards on the page thumbnail. It opens as a PDF.
- Tap Share again and Save to Files.
On iPhone: the Files app
- Save the photos to Files first (Share → Save to Files).
- In Files, select the images, tap the … (More) button and choose Create PDF.
This combines the images into one PDF in the same folder.
On iPhone: scan instead
If the photo is of a document, using Notes or Files → Scan Documents gives a cleaner result, with automatic cropping and perspective correction, saved straight to PDF. See scanning documents with your phone.
On Mac
- Open the HEIC images in Preview.
- To make one PDF from several images, select all thumbnails in the sidebar.
- Choose File → Print, then PDF → Save as PDF.
Alternatively, select the images in Finder, right-click and choose Quick Actions → Create PDF.
On Windows
Windows 11 can display HEIC if the HEIF Image Extensions are installed from the Microsoft Store.
- Open the image in Photos.
- Press Ctrl+P and choose Microsoft Print to PDF as the printer.
- Save.
To combine several images, select them in File Explorer, right-click and choose Print, then pick Microsoft Print to PDF.
Stop the problem at the source
If you regularly need JPEGs, change your iPhone's camera format: Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible. New photos are saved as JPEG. Alternatively, Settings → Photos → Transfer to Mac or PC → Automatic converts photos when you copy them to a computer.
Combining with other documents
Once your images are PDFs, you can merge them with forms or letters into a single upload. A browser tool such as Docento.app merges and reorders pages without uploading your files, which matters for ID documents. See how to combine PDF files.
Keep the file small
Phone photos are large. A five-page PDF of full-resolution photos can exceed portal limits.
- Crop to the document before converting.
- Compress the final PDF. See compress a PDF for online application portals.
- For text documents, 150 to 200 DPI is plenty. See scanning resolution for documents.
Takeaway
On iPhone, the Files app's Create PDF or the print-preview pinch trick converts HEIC to PDF in seconds. On a computer, print to PDF. For documents, scanning gives better results than photographing. For JPEG to PDF specifically, see how to convert JPG to PDF.
