How to Make a PDF of Photos: Simple Guides for Mac Users

Converting your photos into PDF documents is a useful skill for various reasons, from creating shareable portfolios to archiving images in a universally accessible format. If you’re a Mac user, you have built-in tools that make this process straightforward and efficient. This guide will walk you through two simple methods to create PDFs from your photos directly on your Mac, ensuring your images are perfectly compiled into PDF format.

Method 1: Using Preview – The Quick and Easy Way

For a fast and uncomplicated approach to make a PDF of photos, macOS’s Preview application is your go-to tool. This method is ideal when you need a single PDF file with each photo on a separate page.

Steps to Convert Photos to PDF using Preview:

1. Select Your Images: Begin by selecting all the photos you wish to include in your PDF. You can do this in Finder by holding down the Command key and clicking on each image, or by dragging a selection box around them.
2. Open with Preview: Right-click on your selected images, hover over “Open With,” and choose “Preview.” This will open all your selected images in the Preview application.
3. Access Print Options: Once your images are open in Preview, navigate to the “File” menu in the top menu bar. Instead of selecting “Print…”, choose the option “Print Selected Images…”. This is crucial for creating a multi-page PDF where each selected image gets its own page.
4. Save as PDF: In the Print dialog box that appears, look for the “PDF” dropdown menu in the bottom-left corner. Click on it and select “Save as PDF…”.
5. Choose Save Location and Name: A save dialog box will appear, prompting you to choose a location to save your new PDF file and to name it. Select your desired location, give your PDF a relevant name, and click “Save.”

Alt text: Save as PDF dialog box in Preview showing options to name and locate the new PDF file after converting photos.

Your photos are now combined into a single PDF document, with each image displayed on its own page. This method is incredibly quick and requires no additional software, making it perfect for simple photo-to-PDF conversions.

Method 2: Using Automator – For Automation and Customization

If you need a more automated solution, especially if you regularly convert photos to PDF, or if you want more control over the process, Automator is the powerful built-in macOS application you should use. Automator allows you to create workflows to automate repetitive tasks, including creating PDFs from images.

Steps to Create a PDF from Photos using Automator:

1. Open Automator: Launch Automator from your Applications folder.
2. Choose Workflow Type: When Automator opens, you’ll be asked to choose a type of document. Select “Workflow” and click “Choose.”
3. Add “Get Specified Finder Items” Action: In Automator’s Library (left sidebar), find “Files & Folders” and drag the “Get Specified Finder Items” action into the workflow area (right pane). This action will allow you to select the photos you want to convert.
4. Add “New PDF from Images” Action: Next, in the Library, find “PDFs” and drag the “New PDF from Images” action below the “Get Specified Finder Items” action in your workflow. This action will create the PDF from the images you specify.
5. Configure “New PDF from Images”: In the “New PDF from Images” action, you can set options like:
   • Save Output To: Choose where you want to save the resulting PDF file.
   • Output File Name: Specify a name for your PDF file.
   • Page Size (Optional): Adjust the photo sizes within the PDF if needed. By default, it usually fits images to the page while maintaining aspect ratio.
6. Add “Open Finder Items” (Optional): For convenience, you can add another action to automatically open the newly created PDF. Find “Files & Folders” in the Library and drag “Open Finder Items” below the previous actions. This will open the PDF in Preview or your default PDF viewer once it’s created.
7. Select Photos for Conversion: Go back to the “Get Specified Finder Items” action. Click the “Add” button to select the photos you want to convert to PDF. You can also drag and drop files directly into this section.
8. Run the Workflow: Click the “Run” button in the top-right corner of the Automator window to execute your workflow. Automator will process the images and create a PDF file in your specified location.
9. Save the Workflow (Optional): If you plan to use this conversion process regularly, go to “File” > “Save” and save your Automator workflow with a descriptive name (e.g., “Photos to PDF”). You can then easily reuse this workflow in the future by just running the saved file or even creating a Quick Action for Finder.

Alt text: Screenshot of an Automator workflow showing “Get Specified Finder Items” and “New PDF from Images” actions used to convert photos to PDF.

Automator provides a more customizable and automated method, especially useful if you frequently need to perform this task. Saving your workflow means you can quickly convert photos to PDF in just a few clicks in the future.

Conclusion

Both Preview and Automator offer effective ways to make PDFs from your photos on a Mac. Preview is perfect for quick, simple conversions directly from Finder, while Automator is ideal for users who require automation and more options for batch processing. Choose the method that best suits your needs and frequency of converting images to PDF. Whether you opt for the simplicity of Preview or the automation of Automator, creating PDFs from your photos on macOS is a streamlined and efficient process.