How to Convert Photos to PDF on Mac Using Preview

Converting a single photo to PDF with Preview takes under 30 seconds and involves no external tools whatsoever.

1. 1Right-click (or Control-click) your image file in Finder.
2. 2Select 'Open With' → 'Preview' from the context menu.
3. 3In Preview, go to File in the menu bar → Export as PDF.
4. 4Choose a save location and filename in the dialog that appears.
5. 5Click Save — your image is now a PDF.
6. 6Alternatively: open the image in Preview → File → Print → PDF (bottom-left dropdown) → Save as PDF.

This is where Preview becomes genuinely powerful for image-to-PDF work. You can combine any number of photos into a multi-page PDF, reorder the pages visually, rotate individual images, and then save the result — all within Preview's interface. The key to this workflow is understanding how Preview handles multiple files. When you open multiple images together, Preview treats them as a combined document where each image is a page. The sidebar shows all pages, letting you reorder by dragging.

1. 1In Finder, select all the images you want to combine by clicking the first, then Shift-clicking or Command-clicking the rest.
2. 2Right-click the selection and choose 'Open With' → 'Preview.'
3. 3In Preview, make sure the sidebar is visible (View → Thumbnails if not shown).
4. 4Drag the thumbnail images in the sidebar to reorder pages as needed.
5. 5To rotate an image: click its thumbnail in the sidebar, then press Command+L (left) or Command+R (right).
6. 6When the order is correct, go to File → Print.
7. 7In the print dialog, click the PDF button in the lower-left corner.
8. 8Select 'Save as PDF,' choose a location, name your file, and click Save.

Preview supports a drag-and-drop method for adding pages to an existing PDF — useful when you want to add more photos to a PDF you've already started. First create your initial multi-page PDF using Method 2. Then open the existing PDF in Preview with the sidebar visible. To add more images, open a second Finder window, select the additional image files, and drag them directly into the Preview sidebar at the position where you want them inserted. This trick also works for rearranging pages: select a thumbnail in the sidebar and drag it to a new position. Multiple pages can be moved together by Command-clicking to select multiple thumbnails before dragging. To delete a page: click its thumbnail in the sidebar and press the Delete key. Preview will ask you to confirm before removing the page from the document. Save the modified document: File → Save (Command+S) to overwrite the original, or File → Export as PDF to save a new copy while keeping the original intact. Always use 'Export as PDF' rather than 'Save' when you want to preserve the original file.

Preview handles the majority of photo-to-PDF needs on Mac perfectly well. However, there are specific situations where a third-party tool like LazyPDF adds value: Custom page sizes: Preview creates PDFs using the default paper size (A4 or US Letter depending on your regional settings). If you need custom dimensions — say, square pages for a photo book or a specific size for print — you'll need a different tool. High-volume batch processing: converting 200 images to individual PDFs with Preview requires manual work for each. A tool with batch processing handles this automatically. Margin and padding control: Preview embeds images at their native dimensions within the page. For precise margin control or specific layout requirements, tools like LazyPDF or Adobe Acrobat offer more control. File size optimization: Preview's PDFs can be larger than necessary. For sharing large image PDFs via email or web, a dedicated tool with compression options produces smaller files without visible quality loss. For quick, occasional conversions of personal photos, Preview is completely sufficient and often faster than any alternative. For professional or high-volume work, LazyPDF or a dedicated tool provides additional capability.