How to Convert PNG to PDF Online
PNG images are usually screenshots, charts and graphics, and they behave differently from photos once they are inside a PDF. Here is how to convert them without losing sharpness or ending up with a huge file.
Add PNG files, put them in order, choose a page size and press Convert to PDF.
Convert PNG files to a PDF
- Open PNG to PDF and drop your PNG files on the box, or click it and choose them. Several files can go in together.
- In the list, drag the rows into the order you want. Remove one with the ✕ at the end of its row.
- Set Page size and Orientation (the next section explains which to choose).
- Press Convert to PDF, wait for "Done! Your PDF is ready.", and press Download PDF. The file is called
images-to-pdf.pdf.
PNG is a different case from JPG
People usually make PNGs from things that are not photographs: screenshots, charts, slides, logos, scanned line art. Those images have hard edges and flat colours, and that changes the advice.
- Text stays crisp. A PNG screenshot placed in a PDF is not smoothed or blurred, so small interface text remains readable when you zoom in.
- Transparency turns white. The PDF page is white, so see-through areas of a PNG show white behind them. If you wanted a coloured background, add it to the image before converting.
- The pixels are stored losslessly. That is good for quality and expensive for size, which is the next section.
Choosing the page size for screenshots
For a screenshot of a whole web page, which can be 1200 pixels wide and several thousand pixels tall, the right answer depends on what the PDF is for.
| Goal | Page size | Orientation |
|---|---|---|
| A printable report | Fit image to A4 | Auto |
| A full-page graphic with no white bands | Fill A4 (crop edges) | Always portrait or landscape |
| A tall screenshot that must not be shrunk or cut | Use image dimensions | Auto |
A very tall screenshot placed on an A4 page with Fit is shrunk until its height fits, which leaves it thin and the text tiny. Fill goes the other way and crops the top and bottom. If neither is acceptable, "Use image dimensions" keeps everything, with the catch that the page takes the screenshot's pixel size as its size in points. That is fine for reading on screen but unsuitable for printing.
Keeping the PDF a sensible size
PNG compresses by remembering pixels exactly, so a photographic PNG can be several times larger than the same picture as a JPG. Put twenty of them in a PDF and you can reach tens of megabytes quickly.
Pick the cheapest fix that fits the content. For photos, convert them first with PNG to JPG, which saves at a fixed quality of 92 and fills transparent areas with a colour you type, then build the PDF from the JPGs. For screenshots, keep PNG and compress the finished file with Compress PDF. More options are in how to make a PDF under 1 MB, 2 MB or 5 MB.
What the PDF will not do
The converter places pictures on pages. It does not read them. Text inside a screenshot is still part of the image, so it cannot be selected, copied or searched in the PDF, and a screen reader will not see it. If someone needs to copy a command or an error code from your document, paste it as ordinary text next to the screenshot or send the text separately.
The same applies to links. A URL visible in a screenshot is just pixels and will not be clickable. For documentation that people have to search, write the text in a word processor and export that to PDF instead, using screenshots only as illustrations.
What to check in the result
- Order. The PDF follows the list from top to bottom. A wrong sequence is easiest to fix by reordering the list and converting again.
- Edges. Look at the borders of full-page images after choosing Fill, since part of the picture is cut off by design.
- Margins. White bands around images are Fit working as intended.
- Readability. Zoom to 100 percent on a page with small text to make sure the scaling you chose is still legible.
If the conversion fails or looks wrong
If the status shows "Something went wrong. Please try again.", one of the files is likely damaged or the device ran out of memory while embedding very large images. Convert fewer files at a time, or reduce the largest ones first with Resize Image. When only the order is off, Reorder PDF Pages repairs the finished file.
If you need to go the other way and pull images back out of a PDF, PDF to Images does that, and the matching guide explains the options.
Related situations that have their own guides
Photos from a phone are covered in the JPG to PDF guide, including the sideways-photo problem. If your files are a mix of formats, see how to convert images to PDF. And for bug reports built from many screenshots, read combining screenshots into one PDF.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a PNG keep its transparency in a PDF?
The transparent areas show the white page behind them. If you need a colour behind the image, add it to the PNG before you convert.
Why is a PDF made from PNG files so large?
PNG stores every pixel exactly, so photographic PNGs are big. Convert photos to JPG first, or compress the finished PDF with Compress PDF.
What is the best page size for a long screenshot?
Use image dimensions keeps the whole screenshot readable on screen. Fit to A4 shrinks it to fit the page height, and Fill A4 crops the top and bottom.
Can I put several PNG screenshots on separate pages?
Yes. Add them all, drag them into order and convert once. Each PNG becomes its own page in the same PDF.
Will the text in a screenshot stay sharp?
Yes. PNG is lossless and the image is placed without extra smoothing, so small text stays as clear as the screenshot itself.
What is the downloaded file called?
The tool saves images-to-pdf.pdf. Give it a meaningful name before sharing.