How to convert scanned images to PDF
- Drop one or more scanned images (JPG, PNG, or WebP) into the tool above, or click to browse.
- Choose a page size — A4, Letter, or "Fit to image" — and an orientation.
- Click "Convert to PDF" and download the result. Each image becomes its own page, in the order you added them.
How PDFly's Scan to PDF works
This tool turns a batch of photos or scanned pages into a single, shareable PDF — useful when your scanner app or phone camera only outputs separate image files. It runs entirely in your browser using the pdf-lib library: each image is embedded onto its own page, scaled and centered within your chosen margins, and the finished PDF is assembled locally. Nothing is uploaded at any point.
Because it embeds images as-is, it's best thought of as a page assembler rather than a true scanner — it won't straighten a crooked photo, remove shadows, or clean up a dim scan. For that kind of cleanup, use your phone's scanning app or an image editor before converting.
Choosing page size and orientation
- A4 / Letter: places your image on a standard fixed page size with a small margin — the safest choice if the PDF will be printed or shared for official use.
- Fit to image: creates a page sized to match the image itself, so there's no extra white space or scaling — good for photos or documents that don't match a standard paper size.
- Orientation: switch to landscape if your images are wider than they are tall; this only affects A4/Letter, since "Fit to image" already matches the image's own shape.
Making the text searchable afterward
Scan to PDF only places images on pages — it doesn't read or recognize the text inside them, so the result isn't searchable or selectable on its own. If you need to search, copy, or select text from your scanned pages, run the finished PDF through OCR PDF next; it adds an invisible, searchable text layer behind each page image without changing how the page looks.
Common mistakes
- Uploading images out of order and expecting to reorder them afterward — set the order by the sequence you select or drag files in, since pages follow upload order.
- Expecting the tool to straighten, crop, or brighten photos — it embeds images exactly as provided.
- Forgetting to run OCR afterward when a searchable or copy-pasteable PDF is actually what's needed.
Troubleshooting
- An image won't embed: the tool supports JPG, PNG, and WebP. If a file fails, try re-saving it as a JPG or PNG first.
- Images look shrunk or have too much white space: switch the page size to "Fit to image" so the page matches the image dimensions instead of a fixed A4/Letter size.
- Pages are in the wrong order: clear the selection and re-upload the images in the order you want them to appear.
- Large photo batches are slow: everything happens in your device's memory, so many high-resolution photos at once can be slower on phones or older computers.