How to convert a photo to PDF on Android — and leave the motion clip out
To turn a photo into a PDF on Android, open JPG to PDF in Chrome, add your photos, drag them into order and tap Create PDF. One Android catch: a motion photo carries its hidden video clip into the PDF, along with any location tag.
Android can already print a photo to a PDF, and for a single picture that is often enough. The catch is something many Android cameras do that most others do not: they save a few seconds of video inside the photo file. Convert that file the wrong way and the video goes into the PDF with it. Here is the quick route, the built-in route, and how to tell which one your photos need.
How do I turn a picture to a PDF file on Android?
Open JPG to PDF in Chrome, tap the upload area, pick your photos, drag them into order, choose a page size and tap Create PDF. The PDF is built on the phone and downloads as babapdf_images.pdf. Nothing is uploaded and there is no app to install.
Open the tool in Chrome
Open JPG to PDF. It is an ordinary web page, so there is no app to install and no account to make.
Add your photos
Tap the upload area and choose the photos. You can pick several at once and keep adding more; the count and total size appear under the list.
Put them in order
Press and hold a photo by its handle, then drag it up or down. The PDF follows the list from top to bottom, one photo per page.
Choose a page size
Fit to image gives each page the shape of its own photo. A4 or Letter gives every page the same size, centres the photo inside a margin, and adds a Portrait or Landscape choice.
Create the PDF
Tap Create PDF. The file downloads as babapdf_images.pdf, so rename it before the next one arrives with the same name.
Can Android save a photo as a PDF without an app?
Yes. Open the photo in Google Photos, tap the three-dot menu, choose Print, then pick Save as PDF as the printer and tap the PDF button. That is the route given on Google's own Photos help forum. We describe it from there; we have not tested it on every phone.
It works well for one photo. For a dozen in a fixed order, a uniform A4 page, or a file you are about to merge or compress, the browser tool gives you more control. Both build the PDF on the phone.
Why is my PDF so much bigger than my photo?
Usually because the photo is a motion photo. Pixel and Samsung cameras can record a short clip around each shot and store it in the same .jpg file, after the picture. JPG to PDF copies the file into the PDF byte for byte, so the clip goes in too.
Android's own Motion Photo format describes this layout: a normal JPEG first, then an MP4 video appended after the image data. Anything that reads the picture stops at the end of the image, which is why the photo still looks normal everywhere. The video is still in the file.
We tested this rather than assumed it. We built a photo in the Motion Photo layout with a two-megabyte stand-in for the clip and ran it through the real converter. The PDF came out larger by exactly the size of the clip, to the byte, and the video's file signature was sitting in the PDF. A separate PDF reader still showed the photo normally. Nothing on screen tells you the clip is there.
We could not test every Android photo picker, and some may hand the browser a copy without the clip. So check the sizes: the list shows each photo's size before you convert, and a single photo several megabytes larger than its neighbours is probably carrying a clip. Two fixes work. Turn the camera's motion setting off before shooting, or convert with Scan to PDF instead (below).
Does the PDF include my photo's location?
Yes, if the copy your phone hands Chrome still has one. JPG to PDF does not re-encode the picture, so everything stored in it goes into the PDF: the camera model, the time, and the GPS position when location tagging was on. In our test the photo's metadata block came out of the PDF identical to the one that went in.
That is the cost of the tool's main strength. Copying the file untouched means no quality loss, but it also means nothing is cleaned out. If the PDF is going to a landlord, an employer or a stranger online, convert with Scan to PDF instead.
How do I convert a photo to PDF without the clip or the location?
Open Scan to PDF, tap Add photos and pick your pictures. It redraws each one and saves a fresh JPEG, so only the picture survives. In Chrome, our test file with a clip and a location tag came out as a small plain JPEG with neither.
Open Scan to PDF
Open Scan to PDF in Chrome. You do not need the camera; the Add photos button sits next to Start camera.
Tap Add photos
Pick your photos. Each one is redrawn and re-saved as a new JPEG on the phone, which drops the motion clip and the camera metadata.
Order and size the pages
Use the up and down arrows to reorder. Choose Fit to photo, A4 or Letter.
Create the PDF
Tap Create PDF. The file is built on the phone and downloads like any other.
The trade is a small loss of quality. The fresh JPEG is saved at 92 percent quality, so the picture is compressed once more, which you are unlikely to notice in a document photo. One more difference: a file that will not open as a picture is skipped without a message, so count the pages before you tap Create PDF.
Why will my photo not convert?
Because it is not a JPEG. JPG to PDF reads what is inside the file, not its name, and refuses anything else with an error naming the file. On Android the usual cause is a Samsung camera set to save high-efficiency HEIF pictures, which are .heic files.
Switch the camera back to JPEG for new photos. Scan to PDF is no way round it for a .heic already on the phone: Chrome does not decode HEIC pictures, and Add photos skips any file it cannot open without a message. A PNG belongs in PNG to PDF. The iPhone guide covers photos that come out sideways, which happens on Android too: the rotation flag is not read, and Rotate PDF fixes the page afterwards.
Whichever tool you use, the photos are read and the PDF is put together in the Chrome tab on your phone. Nothing is sent to a server, which matters more than usual when the photo is of an ID card or a payslip. On a PC, the Windows guide covers the same job.
