What happens when you convert JPG to PDF
- The JPG is placed into the PDF as it is, without re-compressing, so the page is exactly as sharp as the original photo.
How to convert JPG to PDF online
- Press "Choose JPG files" and select one or more files, or drag them onto the box. You can add files of any size your device can hold in memory.
- Adjust the settings if you need to. The output is lossless, so there is no quality setting to worry about.
- Press "Convert to PDF". Images convert in a second or two each.
- Save each PDF with its download button. Close the tab and every trace of the files is gone from memory.
Why convert JPG to PDF?
JPG files usually come from camera photos, web images and email attachments. People convert them to PDF because a PDF looks the same on every device and is what forms, portals and printers ask for.
In short, JPG is good at what it was made for, and PDF is the more practical choice when the file has to open, upload or print somewhere else. JPG opens in every browser and image viewer, while PDF opens in every browser's built-in viewer.
How to convert JPG to PDF on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android
On Windows
Open this page in Chrome, Edge or Firefox, drag your JPG files in from File Explorer, and press Convert. Each PDF is saved to your Downloads folder.
On a Mac
Safari, Chrome and Firefox all work. Drag the JPG files from Finder onto the drop zone and the PDF files land in Downloads. Preview can do single images too: open the file, choose File, then Export, and pick PDF.
On iPhone and iPad
Open the page in Safari and tap Choose JPG files. You can pick from Photos or from the Files app. The converted PDF appears in Files, in the Downloads folder.
On Android
Open the page in Chrome, tap Choose JPG files and pick them from Files or your gallery. The PDF is saved to the Download folder, where any file manager can find it.
Best settings for JPG to PDF
Each image becomes one page sized to the image at 96 pixels per inch, so a 1200 pixel wide image makes a page 12.5 inches wide. PDF viewers and printers scale pages to fit, so the page size rarely matters on screen.
A JPG is embedded exactly as it is, without re-compressing, as long as it is a normal RGB photo with no rotation flag. Otherwise it is stored losslessly, which is larger but just as sharp.
JPG vs PDF: the differences
| JPG | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Joint Photographic Experts Group image | Portable Document Format |
| Type | image | document |
| Created by | the Joint Photographic Experts Group | Adobe |
| First released | 1992 | 1993 |
| Compression | Lossy | Lossy or lossless |
| Transparency | No | No |
| Animation | No | No |
| Vector or raster | Raster | Vector |
| Colour | 24-bit colour, 16.7 million colours | any colour, pages can mix text, vectors and images |
| In a browser | opens in every browser and image viewer | opens in every browser's built-in viewer |
| Common uses | camera photos, web images and email attachments | documents, forms, invoices and print-ready files |
| MIME type | image/jpeg | application/pdf |
About JPG and PDF files
What is a JPG file?
JPG discards fine detail the eye is least sensitive to, which is why a photo shrinks to a tenth of its raw size but text and sharp edges pick up blocky artefacts. Every re-save at a lossy setting throws away a little more.
What is a PDF file?
A PDF fixes the layout of every page so it looks the same on any device. Converting a PDF to an image renders each page to pixels; converting an image to PDF wraps it as a page.
JPG to PDF not working? Common problems
- Colours look slightly different. Browsers convert images to the standard sRGB colour space when they decode them, so wide-gamut and CMYK images can shift a little.
- A phone photo comes out upright even though it looked sideways elsewhere. That is correct: the rotation stored in the photo is applied during conversion, so the PDF is always the right way up.
- The file is bigger than expected. The PDF is usually larger, because it stores every pixel without compression losses, while the JPG was compressed lossily.
Convert JPG to PDF from the command line
If you work in a terminal, ImageMagick converts JPG to PDF in one line:
magick input.jpg output.pdfTo convert every JPG in a folder at once, use magick mogrify -format pdf *.jpg. The converter on this page does the same job without installing anything.
JPG to PDF converter FAQ
Will I lose quality converting JPG to PDF?
No further quality is lost, because PDF is written losslessly. Detail the JPG compression already removed does not come back.
Why is the PDF a different size from the JPG?
The PDF is usually larger, because it stores every pixel without compression losses, while the JPG was compressed lossily.
Are my JPG files uploaded anywhere?
No. The conversion runs inside this browser tab using your browser's own image decoder, so your files stay on your device. You can disconnect from the internet after the page has loaded and it still works.
Can I convert several JPG files to PDF at once?
Yes. Select or drop as many files as you like; they are converted one after another and each gets its own download button.
How do I open a PDF file?
PDF opens in every browser's built-in viewer. PDF is common for documents, forms, invoices and print-ready files.
Is this JPG to PDF converter free?
Yes. There is no sign-up, no watermark and no limit on how many files you convert. The site is paid for by advertising, and because conversions run on your device there is no server cost per file.
Can I convert JPG to PDF on my phone?
Yes. The converter works in Safari on iPhone and iPad and in Chrome on Android. Converted files are saved to the Downloads folder.