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How to convert a Live Photo to PDF

By DeckleUpdated

To convert a Live Photo to PDF, convert its still image with HEIC to PDF (or JPG to PDF if it was saved as JPEG) and choose Create PDF. The PDF page shows the still photo only. The motion and sound live in a separate video file that a PDF page cannot play, so keep the Live Photo itself when the movement matters.

HEIC to PDF

Choose a source for the job

Photograph

Inspect colour and detail

Diagram

Inspect lines and labels

Scan

Inspect frames and text

A static PDF page does not preserve motion

Conceptual illustration · image format and output page behaviour are separate decisions.

How to convert a Live Photo to PDF with Deckle

  1. Get the still image onto your computer. On a Mac, select the Live Photo in Photos and choose File > Export > Export Photos; Apple notes that this can export a Live Photo as a still image.
  2. Check the extension. Open HEIC to PDF for .heic files or JPG to PDF for .jpg files.
  3. Choose Select files, or drop the photo onto the page. Add other photos too if you want several pages.
  4. Rotate any sideways photo with the rotate button on its row, and put the photos in order with the arrows.
  5. Under Page size, choose Fit inside A4 for a printable page or Match each image for a photo-sized page.
  6. Choose Create PDF, download the PDF and check the page.

The result screen says how many pages were created and from how many images, one page per still.

What a Live Photo is made of

Apple's Photos app treats a Live Photo as a pair: a still image and a short video of the moments around it. Apple's Mac guide says that exporting a Live Photo as an unmodified original gives two separate files, a still-image file and a video file (Export photos on Mac).

Part File Can it go into a PDF page?
Key photo .heic or .jpg Yes, as a still page
Motion and sound .mov video No
Link between them Photos library data No

So "converting a Live Photo" really means converting its key photo. A PDF page is a fixed image, and Deckle's image tools make one fixed page per still.

Choose the moment before converting

The still that becomes the page is the Live Photo's key photo. If a better moment exists in the motion, change the key photo first. On iPhone, Apple's steps are: open the Live Photo, tap Edit, tap the Live Photo button, move the white frame, tap Make Key Photo, then tap Done (Edit Live Photos on iPhone). Then export. Deckle uses whatever still you give it and cannot pick a different moment from the video.

If you exported with Export Unmodified Original, you get the still and the .mov side by side. Add only the still to HEIC to PDF or JPG to PDF; the image tools do not accept video files.

When the motion matters

Send something other than a PDF:

  • A video. On iPhone, Apple's steps are: in Photos, open Media Types > Live Photos, select the Live Photo, tap the menu and choose Save as Video. The video appears in Recently Saved and the Live Photo stays as it was (How to turn a Live Photo into a video on your iPhone).
  • The Live Photo itself, by AirDrop or iCloud Photos to another Apple device.

A PDF can still be useful alongside the video, for example as a printed record of one moment from an inspection or a property viewing.

What else does not carry over

  • Location and camera data. HEIC to PDF does not carry camera or location metadata into the PDF. JPG to PDF copies a JPEG within the device's pixel limit unchanged, including any GPS location; a JPEG scaled down to fit is re-saved without it.
  • Depth data. Only the main image in the HEIC file is used; extra images stored alongside it, such as depth maps, are ignored.
  • Edits made as adjustments. Export the photo after editing, so the still includes the edits.

HEIC files with several images

An image sequence or collection saved as one HEIC file holds several pictures. HEIC to PDF refuses it before you start, naming the file, rather than choosing one picture silently. Export the image you want as a single photo first. An ordinary Live Photo still is a single image and converts normally. Why a HEIC file is not recognised covers the other refusals.

Tips

  • Convert on a computer for detail. iPhone photos are 12 megapixels or more, so on iPhone and iPad they are scaled down to 4 megapixels, and 48-megapixel photos are refused. A computer keeps up to 16 megapixels per page and scales larger photos to fit.
  • Pick the key photo first. It is the only moment the PDF will show.
  • Keep the originals. The PDF is a copy of one moment; the Live Photo pair is the full record.
  • Turn Live off for documents. When photographing paperwork, Live is unnecessary and the still is all you need.

Frequently asked questions

Can a PDF play a Live Photo?

No. Deckle makes a still page from the photo. Save the Live Photo as a video if the motion matters.

Which frame of the Live Photo ends up in the PDF?

The key photo, the still you see when the Live Photo is not playing. Change it in Photos before exporting to pick another moment.

Do I need to remove the video file before converting?

The image tools take still images only, so add just the .heic or .jpg file.

Can I put several Live Photos in one PDF?

Yes. Add all their stills to HEIC to PDF, put them in order and choose Create PDF. Each becomes one page.

Related tools

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