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How to convert JPG to PDF on a Mac

By DeckleUpdated

To convert JPG to PDF on a Mac, open JPG to PDF in your browser, drop the JPG files from the Finder onto the page, put them in order, choose a page size and choose Create PDF. Each photo becomes one page of a new PDF, placed without re-compression, and the photos themselves are not changed. macOS can also do this with the Finder or Preview; both are described below.

JPG to PDF
Illustrated document pages containing a chart, photograph and text.
Illustration · a document can contain more than its visible pages.

How to convert JPG to PDF on a Mac with Deckle

  1. Open JPG to PDF in Safari, Chrome or Firefox.
  2. Drag the JPG or JPEG files from the Finder onto the page, or choose Select files.
  3. Under Images to include, check the ticks and use the up and down arrows to set the page order.
  4. Press the rotate button on any photo that is on its side. Preview on a row shows how the page will look.
  5. Under Page size, choose Match each image or Fit inside A4. With A4, also pick an Orientation and a Margin.
  6. Optional: set Output PDF name. Several images become images.pdf if you leave it blank.
  7. Choose Create PDF and download the file.

The result screen confirms how many pages the PDF has, which should be one per ticked photo.

Match each image or Fit inside A4?

Setting What you get Good for
Match each image Each page is the size of its photo, one pixel to one point, no margin Viewing on screen, archiving photos
Fit inside A4 Every page is A4; large photos shrink to fit, smaller ones are centred Printing, documents, uploads to forms

Photos are never cropped or enlarged with either option. Margin offers None, Narrow (18 pt) and Standard (36 pt) on every side.

Example: twelve 4032 × 3024 photos with Match each image give pages about 56 inches wide. With Fit inside A4 and Landscape, the same photos give a normal 12-page document you can print.

Quality and file size

Deckle places each JPEG of up to 16 megapixels in the PDF byte for byte, so there is no quality loss and the PDF is roughly the size of the photos added together. The camera's orientation tag is applied, so portrait photos stay upright.

Because the JPEG is copied exactly, any location data stored in it travels into the PDF too. If you will share the PDF, remove location from the photos first. For iPhone photos still in HEIC format, use HEIC to PDF; see how to convert HEIC to PDF on a Mac.

Convert JPG to PDF with the Finder

The Finder's Create PDF Quick Action turns selected images into one PDF. Apple's page Combine files into a PDF on Mac describes it:

  1. Select the JPG files in the Finder, in the order you want the pages.
  2. Control-click the selection and choose Quick Actions > Create PDF.

The pages follow the order in which you selected the files, and the PDF is named after the first file. There are no page size settings.

Convert JPG to PDF with Preview

Apple's page Convert image file types using Preview on Mac shows how to export an image as a PDF:

  1. Open the image in Preview. To convert several, open them in one Preview window and select them in the sidebar.
  2. Choose File > Export.
  3. Choose PDF from the Format menu and save.

Apple's page covers the format choice, not page size or margins. When you need many photos in a set order on A4 pages, Deckle's list and Fit inside A4 setting do that in one run.

Tips

  • Use A4 for anything you will print. Fit inside A4 gives every page the same size.
  • Check the order before creating. Photos are listed in the order you added them, not by date taken.
  • Add other documents afterwards. Merge the photo PDF with other PDFs in Merge PDFs.
  • Text in photos is not searchable. The page holds a picture of the document.

Frequently asked questions

Does converting JPG to PDF on a Mac reduce quality?

Not with Deckle. The JPEG data goes into the PDF unchanged.

How do I put several JPGs into one PDF on a Mac?

Drop them all into JPG to PDF, arrange them and choose Create PDF. In the Finder, select them all and use Quick Actions > Create PDF.

Can I convert PNG files the same way?

Use PNG to PDF, which keeps PNG pixels lossless. See how to convert PNG to PDF on a Mac.

Is there a limit on photo size?

Each page keeps up to 16 megapixels on a Mac. A larger photo, such as a 24- or 48-megapixel iPhone photo, is scaled down to 16 megapixels and re-saved as a high-quality JPEG (quality 90), without its EXIF data; the review lists it before you convert, and the page size stays the same. Images above 64 megapixels are refused before you start.

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