How to convert HEIC iPhone photos to PDF on a Mac
iPhone photos are HEIC files that many forms refuse. Turn them into a PDF on a Mac with Finder or Preview, and why resizing first made ours 12 times smaller.
The problem
A form or a website asks for a PDF, and the photos on your iPhone are HEIC files it will not take. Or it takes them and then complains the file is too big.
How do I convert a HEIC photo to PDF on a Mac?
Select the HEIC files in Finder, Control click, and choose Quick Actions > Create PDF. You get one PDF with one page per photo, in the order they were sorted in Finder.
How do I put HEIC photos in a PDF in my own order?
Open the photos together in Preview, drag them into order in the sidebar, select them all, then choose File > Print, open the PDF menu and choose Save as PDF.
How big is a PDF made from HEIC photos?
Big, if you keep full resolution. We converted a 6016 by 6016 pixel HEIC image: the HEIC was 9.3 MB, a JPEG copy 4.1 MB, and the PDF 3.9 MB, because macOS stored the picture inside the PDF as a JPEG. Resized to 2000 pixels first, the same picture made a PDF of 328 KB, about 12 times smaller, and still sharp enough to read a document photographed in it.
Resize before you convert with the free image resizer, or see resize images on a Mac.
What if the form wants JPG instead of PDF?
See convert HEIC to JPG, or use the free image converter in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
Our take
Resize every photo of a document before it goes into a PDF. Camera resolution is for prints and crops; a receipt or an ID card is readable at a fraction of it, and the smaller file is the one that gets through an upload limit on the first try.
In Simply PDF
Simply PDF takes HEIC, JPG and PNG and makes a PDF for free, turning each photo upright and placing it on A4, US Letter or its own size.
Measured on 16 October 2026 on a MacBook Air (M1), macOS 27.0.1, with a 6016 by 6016 HEIC image from the system's desktop pictures: sips -s format pdf, and sips -Z 2000 before converting. File sizes as reported by Finder's byte counts.
Questions
How do I convert a HEIC photo to PDF on a Mac?
Select it in Finder, Control click and choose Quick Actions > Create PDF.
Why is my HEIC to PDF file so big?
The photo keeps its full resolution. In our test a 6016 pixel image made a 3.9 MB PDF; resized to 2000 pixels first, 328 KB.