Convert PNG to PDF

To convert PNG to PDF, print the image to Microsoft Print to PDF on Windows, use Preview or the Finder Create PDF action on Mac, or the Share, Print trick on a phone. PDF Viewer on this site does not build a PDF from image files, though it can place a PNG onto an existing PDF page and reorder or merge pages afterward in the browser. The methods below need no extra software.

Which PNG to PDF method for which case

Screenshots, exported charts and scanned pages usually arrive as PNG. Turning them into a PDF is a printing job: the OS lays each image on a page and writes the file. The choice of method depends on how many images you have and whether transparency and exact pixel size matter.

Main method: Print to PDF on Windows, Preview on Mac

Windows:

1. Put the PNGs in one folder and rename them so they sort in the order you want (01, 02, 03).
2. Select them all, right-click, Print.
3. Printer: Microsoft Print to PDF. Paper size: Letter or A4. Layout: Full page photo. Tick Fit picture to frame only if cropping is acceptable.
4. Click Print, name the file, Save.

macOS:

1. Select the images in Finder, right-click, Quick Actions, Create PDF for an instant file.
2. For margins and scale: open the PNGs in Preview, select all thumbnails, File, Print, set Scale to Fit, click the PDF button, Save as PDF.

Command line: img2pdf 01.png 02.png -o out.pdf wraps the images without re-encoding; add --pagesize A4 to center them on a page. ImageMagick's magick *.png out.pdf also works but re-encodes. Online converters (iLovePDF, Smallpdf, Adobe) are the usual phone shortcut; they upload every image, so keep screenshots of personal accounts off them.

Transparency, size and order: what to watch

• Transparent PNGs get a white background in nearly every converter. If the PDF must show a transparent logo over color, place the PNG on the page with a tool that keeps alpha instead of printing it; add image to PDF in the viewer inserts PNGs with their transparency onto an existing page.
• Resolution. A 1920-pixel screenshot stretched to a letter page is about 230 DPI, fine for screens, slightly soft in print.
• Page order. Fix a wrong order afterward by dragging thumbnails to reorder the pages, or append a forgotten file with merge PDF, both in the browser, nothing uploaded.
• Searchable text. A PDF made of PNGs is a scanned PDF; run OCR on it if you want Ctrl+F and copy to work.

Many screenshots into one clean PDF

The usual PNG to PDF job is a pile of screenshots: a chat thread, a web order, an error log. A few habits make the result readable.

• Name in order. Windows names screenshots Screenshot (1), Screenshot (2); macOS uses the timestamp. Both sort correctly, but renamed files need zero-padded numbers.
• Crop first. The Windows Snipping Tool and the macOS Cmd+Shift+4 capture let you select a region, which avoids pages full of browser chrome.
• Match orientation. Phone screenshots are portrait, desktop ones landscape. Print them as two batches, or let Preview set orientation per page.
• Same width. With Fit to page, a narrow phone screenshot gets scaled up and looks blurry next to a desktop one. Print phone shots with Scale 100 percent instead of Fit.
• Dark mode. Dark screenshots use a lot of toner if the PDF is printed; invert before converting if the file is for paper.

A PDF built this way is evidence-grade: each page is a pixel copy of what was on screen, and nothing has passed through a converter that reflows text.

Check the result

Open the new PDF in the online PDF viewer: one page per image, correct order, nothing cropped at the edges. Zoom to 200 percent on a screenshot to confirm the text is still readable. If you OCR'd it, search for a word that appears on the first page and make sure it is found.

Frequently asked questions