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How to Convert Several Images into a Single PDF Using Preview

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Apr 12, 2001
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Over the years, Adobe's PDF file type has become a universally accepted method for sharing digital documents. The format's cross-platform adoption means the documents can be viewed on almost any mobile device or computer, so it's no surprise to find that macOS includes native support for viewing and creating PDF files.

In the Preview app, for example, it's possible to create a single multi-page PDF document out of several separate image files. The feature is particularly useful if you need to share a number of scanned documents over email or digitize something for reference. Keep reading to learn how it's done.


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Article Link: How to Convert Several Images into a Single PDF Using Preview
 
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https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/convert-images-to-pdf-macos-preview/
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you guys ever get 2 preview windows when opening a bunch of .jpgs for example? i dont get why that happens to me sometimes. All images could be taken from same camera in same session too
 
This is indeed useful, but I also have an automated shortcut where i just drag files and then converted ones show up in their own folder on the desktop.

EDIT: Just realized that this is the other way around then what i was stating. Whoops!
 
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Xavier said:
This is indeed useful, but I also have an automated shortcut where i just drag files and then converted ones show up in their own folder on the desktop.
Click to expand...

That sounds handy, mind sharing how you did it?
 
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I wrote a native MacOS app in Swift that does the same! Was a fun project. Workflow is much simpler if all you want to do it convert images to a PDF.

Search Concat in Mac App Store (sorry on phone and cannot provide link)



MacRumors said:



Preview-app-250x250.jpg
Over the years, Adobe's PDF file type has become a universally accepted method for sharing digital documents. The format's cross-platform adoption means the documents can be viewed on almost any mobile device or computer, so it's no surprise to find that macOS includes native support for viewing and creating PDF files.

In the Preview app, for example, it's possible to create a single multi-page PDF document out of several separate image files. The feature is particularly useful if you need to share a number of scanned documents over email or digitize something for reference. Keep reading to learn how it's done.


Click here to read more...

Article Link: How to Convert Several Images into a Single PDF Using Preview
Click to expand...
 
martyjmclean said:
Preferences > Images > Open all files in one window.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that Marty...I wouldn't have thought of a preferences setting doing that and just figured it was a really annoying bug (I started seeing the behavior change many OS versions ago).
 
Xavier said:
Sure. And you can change the values to what you'd like.
Click to expand...

Good work, but your workflow doesn't combine images to a single pdf, it exports pdf pages to images.

Would need to use the 'New PDF from Images' function to combine images to a pdf.
 

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philosopherdog said:
Preview is one of the most powerful apps that comes with MacOS. So many people who started on Windows think they need adobe PDF reader. Preview will do it all without opening your Mac to adobes insecure reader.
Click to expand...

I agreed with that statement until High Sierra. Several features are broken and PDF scaling is a blurry mess. There have been countless bug reports but no fixes. The majority of Apple's development resources have been reassigned to iOS and it is starting to show.
 
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Very timely for me. I have been trying to do this from my Win machine, but the resulting PDF is too large for email. Does anyone know if Preview will compress the images or resulting PDF to a manageable size?

Also, is there an equivalent workflow in iOS? My source images are all pictures taken from my iPhone. Would be a huge timesaver to dump them into a single PDF for sharing by email on my iPhone.
 
Very nice tip. Not around my Mac so can't test. Does it tip only work for images? I would like to combine some pdf files. And can it delete pdf pages? That's the only feature I miss when I stop using adobe acrobat.
 
AlumaMac said:
Good work, but your workflow doesn't combine images to a single pdf, it exports pdf pages to images.

Would need to use the 'New PDF from Images' function to combine images to a pdf.
Click to expand...

Good catch. I actually read the post the wrong way, and thought it was talking about what I posted! :eek:
 
AlumaMac said:
Good work, but your workflow doesn't combine images to a single pdf, it exports pdf pages to images.

Would need to use the 'New PDF from Images' function to combine images to a pdf.
Click to expand...

I just used this feature recently, which was the first time I’ve used Automator. I hope it continues to be supported.
 
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You can also freely drag pages between PDFs in Preview using the sidebar thumbnails or the contact sheet view.

Acrobat does have a few tricks up its sleeve, like some (hacky) editing the text of a PDF -- and also I've occasionally come across PDF forms that do not play very well with Preview. For 99% of what you need to do with PDFs, though, Preview is brilliant.
 
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For many years I've relied on a handy shareware gadget called PDF_Merge to to this job for me. It's a trifle expensive as shareware goes, but it has done a lot of good service for me. Problem is, it's a 32-bit app., which means that if its developer doesn't put out a new version, it is doomed to obsolence and I've been worrying about what will happen once I can't use it.. So thanks for this, I'll bookmark this present article and fall back on this method when the need arises. The only thing I need to convince myself is that, since I work with PDF's of old books and manuscripts, sometimes I have to convert a LOT of individual files into a single big one, I hope your method can handle that.
 
mrderik said:
Anyone know of a way to create the PDF in B&W so the size isn't gargantuan?
Click to expand...

Color isn't the issue, it's the resolution of the original images and their compression level. Quartz filters can be created to control both factors, though probably a better bet when dealing with large images is to resize them in Preview first. The easy resizing of images (dimensions, resolution, and compression) is another great and under-appreciated feature of Preview.

Incidentally, one step can be skipped in the process described here for opening multiple files in Preview. Simply select them in the Finder and double-click and they will open in Preview. No need to select the app, they will open that way by default.
 
What's the cost of the latest version of Acrobat Pro (one off or subscription)?

Last time I checked a few years ago it was something ridiculous like £500. (No wonder it got pirated by people who needed it, lol.)
 
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