How to turn a photo into PDF from your mobile

You have an urgent need to sign up for a particular web portal and, given the situation, you have decided to do so via mobile. Unfortunately, however, you have suffered a setback when sending the documents necessary to complete the procedure: although these are present on your phone, they are saved as “simple” photos, while the portal expressly requests that the necessary data are sent as a PDF file.

Are you already thinking of postponing your registration, promising yourself to complete it as soon as possible, via your computer? You don’t necessarily have to do it: there are in fact numerous apps designed to transform a photo into PDF from your mobile phone and, in this guide of mine, I intend to show you the ones that, in my humble opinion, are the simplest to use.

So what else are you waiting to get started? Take a few minutes of free time, make yourself comfortable and read very carefully everything I have to say on the subject: I am sure that, at the end of this reading, you will be perfectly able to transform your photos into PDF documents, thus leading to the much-desired registration is over. Happy reading and good work!

Index

• PDF export
  • Android
  • iPhone
• Google Drive (Android / iOS / iPadOS)
• Microsoft Office (Android / iOS / iPadOS)
• File (iOS / iPadOS)
• SwiftScan (Android / iOS / iPadOS)
• Tiny Scanner (Android / iOS / iPadOS)
• Other solutions to turn a photo into PDF from your mobile

PDF export

The first method to transform a photo into PDF from your mobile phone, as well as the simplest, which I recommend you use involves the use of a feature integrated in the latest versions of Android and iOS: direct export of files to PDF. Through the print function, in fact, it is possible to convert any type of document (including photos) into a PDF file on the fly: I’ll explain how.

Android

If you have an Android terminal, open the Photos app (the Gallery app or any other app you use to manage your phone’s images) and select the photo you want to convert to PDF; then tap the button (⋮) and tap the Print or export to PDF item in the proposed menu.

The game is practically done: press the drop-down menu located at the top, or press the ▼ button located at the top right, and then select the item Save as PDF from the menu that appears on the screen.

Finally, press the button with the save icon located at the top and, finally, indicate the file name in the appropriate box and press the Save button to store the converted file in the Android Download folder. That’s all!

iPhone

In a way quite similar to what we have seen above, it is possible to take advantage of the “hidden” print to file feature also on the iPhone (and iPad ). How? I’ll explain it to you immediately!

First, open the Photos app and select the photo you want to convert, press the share button (the square with the up arrow ) and tap the Print icon attached to the panel proposed on the screen.

At this point, instead of selecting the AirPrint printer as you usually would, zoom with two fingers on the preview of the photo placed in the print window: in this way, a PDF document ready to be saved will be automatically generated!

To conclude, press the share button located in the preview of the PDF generated previously, choose the Save to File option and, through the next screen, indicate whether to save the document thus created in the internal memory of the iPhone, on iCloud or in the other routes provided by the apps installed on your “iPhone by”. All very simple, isn’t it?

Google Drive (Android / iOS / iPadOS)

Through the Google Drive app, available on both Android and iOS / iPadOS, you can create PDF documents by taking photos in real time. To do this, after starting the Google Drive app using the quick start icon, press the + icon on the main screen and select the Scan item.

At this point, take the photo of the subject and press on the confirmation icon at the top. On the next screen, choose whether to add new pages, using the + icon , or make improvements using the tools present. When the operation is completed, press the ✓ icon , choose a file name and then the destination where to save the document. Then click on Save to save the document.

Microsoft Office (Android / iOS / iPadOS)

Microsoft’s Office app allows you to generate PDFs from images or any business document. This app is available for free on Android (and alternative stores ) and on iOS / iPadOS for devices with displays under 10.1 inches. For devices with larger screens, it is necessary to subscribe to Microsoft 365 (from 7 euros / month).

After starting the app and pressing the + icon, you can choose between the two available modes related to photo conversion: Scan to PDF which allows you to take a photo in real time and convert it to PDF or Images to PDF to recall a photo present in the gallery to generate a document in PDF format.

In the first case, the camera shutter is displayed: then frame the subject, press the shutter button, adjust the edges of the photo and tap the Confirm key. In the second case, you will be shown the media gallery of the device through which you can select one or more images to import.

Regardless of the capture method used, on the next screen, you can add additional pages to the PDF, apply filters, crop the image, and more. When you have finished, press the Done button: you will be directed to the preview of the document and, through the share icon, you can also send the document to other external apps. To save the document, press the icon (…) at the top and tap on the Save as item.

File (iOS / iPadOS)

By default app files for iOS and iPadOS (also available on ‘ App Store, if removed) you can create PDF shooting still photos in real time using the iPhone camera. How? I’ll explain it to you immediately.

First, start the Files app and, in its main screen, press the icon (…) located at the top. At this point, in the menu that displays, select the Scan documents item, frame the subject to be photographed and press the shutter button. At this point, adjust the scan area using the appropriate markers and, when done, press the Save scan button at the bottom.

Now you can decide to take further shots or proceed with saving the file. In the latter case, press the Save button at the bottom, press the word Scanned Document to change the file name and then tap on the destination folder. Finally, click on the Save button at the top.

SwiftScan (Android / iOS / iPadOS)

If the previous solutions have not convinced you completely or if your operating system does not support the print-to-file functionality, you can achieve a fairly similar result using the SwiftScan app, available for free for Android (and on alternative stores ) and iOS / iPadOS.

The app is free, but by making a one-time payment of 11.99 euros, you can access additional features, such as text recognition or the ability to sign documents.

Once you have downloaded and installed the app from the reference store of your device, start it from the Android drawer or from the iOS Home screen and, to start, press the Continue button several times, in order to skip the initial introductory guide and confirm the ” access to the device functions.

Once on the main screen, press the + icon and tap the Import button located at the bottom to select the image from the system gallery. Alternatively, frame the subject to be photographed with the lens and press the shutter button at the bottom center.

On the next screen, you can edit the captured image using the buttons in the bottom bar. For example, if you want to make a cut, press the Cut button; if you want to rotate the image, press the Rotate button. If you want to add more pages, press the + icon.

After performing this operation, change the name of the file using the bar at the top and then to save it press the Save button. The newly generated file will be available on the main app screen. Therefore, press on the file name, press the Send to button and you can also share the PDF externally.

Tiny Scanner (Android / iOS / iPadOS)

If the previous apps did not satisfy you, you can give Tiny Scanner a chance, available for free for Android (and on alternative stores ) and for iOS / iPadOS. The app allows you to quickly scan documents, converting any type of image into a PDF file on the fly.

By subscribing to the Premium version, € 4.19 / month on Android and € 5.49 / month on iOS / iPadOS, it is possible to unlock additional features, such as the removal of advertising banners and use the text recognition feature.

After launching the app via the quick launch icon, grant permissions to access the device features, to access the main screen. At this point, on Android, press the camera icon to take a photo, or tap the image icon to select a photo from the media gallery. Choose a name to give to the file and press the ✓ icon at the top to save the PDF file.

On iPhone (or iPad ), press the + icon at the bottom to access the device’s camera and take a photo in real time. Alternatively, click on the image icon at the bottom right and select a photo from the list. At this point, press the Done button, type the name to give to the file at the top and then tap the Save button.

After saving the file, in the main screen of the app, tap on the PDF and then press on the sharing icon located at the bottom, to export the document outside the app to other services.

Other solutions to turn a photo into PDF from your mobile

Have you read carefully the advice I gave you earlier but, nevertheless, would you like to know some alternatives to the apps illustrated in this guide? No problem: there are so many ways to turn a photo into PDF from your mobile. Below, I briefly illustrate some additional solutions that you could rely on to do this.

• Microsoft Lens( Android / iOS / iPadOS ) – this is a free app for Android and iOS designed by Microsoft, which allows you to take shots in real time, using your phone’s camera and turn them into Office documents or files in PDF format in just a few taps.
• Image to PDF Converter( Android ) – this is an app for Android which, unlike the solutions seen above, was created with the specific intent of converting the images in the gallery into PDF documents. Its free version features banner ads, which can be eliminated by purchasing the Pro version within the app itself (at a price of € 14.99 ).
• Online converters– don’t want to install any apps? You must know that there are numerous Internet sites that allow you to convert images to PDF in a few taps, able to work both from your computer and from smartphones and tablets. I have shown you some of them in my guides on how to turn images to PDF and how to convert JPG to PDF .