How to Combine Images Into a PDF

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A variety of software programs will combine images into a PDF.

A variety of reasons exist to combine multiple images file into one Portable Document Format (PDF) document. Because PDF is a universal format that will preserve its content without being easily altered, it's a good way to send a batch of photos or have them professionally printed. If you own Adobe Acrobat, you can use it to combine image files directly into a new PDF document. This is a good option if you want each image to take up one page of the document. Otherwise, you should lay out your photos the way you want them in an image editing or layout program first, then convert the document to PDF.

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Adobe Acrobat

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Step 1

Open the images you want to combine in an image-editing program. Crop down each image to the size you want it, and do any last photo editing before combining them into a PDF. Save each image and put them all into one folder on your computer.

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Step 2

Open Adobe Acrobat.

Step 3

Click the "File" menu. In Acrobat 9, click "Combine," then "Merge Files into a Single PDF." In Acrobat 8, click "Combine Files."

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Step 4

Click the "Add Files" menu, then select "Add Folder" in Acrobat 9. In Acrobat 8, click the "Add Folders" button at the top of the dialog box.

Step 5

Browse through your computer files and select the folder that contains the images. Click "Choose." All the image files will be listed in the "Combine Files" dialog box.

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Step 6

Rearrange the images how you want them to be ordered in the PDF. Select a file and drag it to the position you want, or click the "Move Up" or "Move Down" buttons.

Step 7

Specify the file size and conversion setting. Click "Combine Files" in Acrobat 9. In Acrobat 8, click "Next", select "Merge Files into a Single PDF," and then click "Create."

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Step 8

Click "Save" after the PDF finishes merging. Enter a filename and select a destination folder for the PDF in the "Save as " dialog box, then click "Save."

Photo/Layout Progarm

Step 1

Open either a photo-editing program or a page layout program that you own, whichever one you prefer to use. Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign and Microsoft Publisher (2007 or 2010) are all good options, as they allow you to save documents directly to PDF.

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Step 2

Create a blank document the size you want the PDF to be. Individually place all the images into the document and arrange them how you want them in the PDF. You may need to create a multi-page document if you have several images.

Step 3

Click the "File" menu, then "Save" to save the document.

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Step 4

Click the "File" menu, then "Save as" to save the document as a PDF. In Photoshop, choose "Photoshop PDF" from the "Format" menu. In Publisher, select "PDF" from the "Save as Type" list. In InDesign, instead click "Export" from the "File" menu and choose "PDF" from the "Format" menu. Enter a new filename for the document, then click "Save."

Step 5

Open the PDF you just created in Acrobat or a PDF reader to view it.

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