How to make a PDF document on an iPhone or iPad

PDF is the most used, most portable, most convenient, and most shared file format in existence right now. So there will definitely come a time when you need to create a PDF on your iPhone or iPad. You may think the process is probably a bit awkward with the iPhone’s small screen, but in actual fact, Apple makes it an extremely simple process. Let’s take a look at a few ways to make a PDF file on your Apple device.

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How to create a PDF on an iPhone or iPad

Apple has a built-in PDF creation process; we’ll look at that first. Then we’ll take a look at some other ways.

Via the Print menu option

Apple makes the PDF creation process easy by baking it into the print options in the Share menu. Basically, anything that can be sent to print can also be saved as a PDF file. Whether it’s saving a webpage as a PDF or turning a photo into a PDF, all roads lead to the printer options.

Let’s turn a photo into a PDF. Open the photo in the Photos app and tap the Share button. Select Print.

Now tap the second Share button at the top-right corner of the screen. This takes you away from AirPrint printers since we don’t need them.

You’ll now see that tapping that icon has turned the photo into a PDF file. Select where you want the PDF to go. You can either send it to someone using an installed app or keep it on your phone by sending it to the Files app or Dropbox app.

You can also turn photos into PDFs by doing the same process, but instead of the Print option, select to open them in Books instead. They will now be exported to Books as a PDF file.

Using the Files app

If you have a text document, the best bet is to move it to the Files app. You can make a PDF out of the document there using the same method as the previous section for images.

Once the document has been moved to the Files app:

• Open it and tap the Share menu. Select Print.
• Tap the second Share menu at the top of the screen.
• The document is now a PDF file. Select where to send it to.

Using the Google Docs app

Finally, there’s the good old standby — Google Docs. If the document is already in Google Docs, or you can import it into the app, you can easily spit out a PDF version.

In Google Docs, find your document and tap the three dots underneath it.

In the menu that appears, select Send a copy.

Select PDF from the next menu, then tap OK.

The PDF will now be generated, and you can select, via the Share menu, where the PDF should be sent to.

Read more: How to extract images from a PDF

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