To combine screenshots into one PDF, upload them to Merge Images to PDF, drag the tiles into reading order and press Merge to PDF. The tool is free, takes JPG, PNG and BMP files of up to 25 MB each, and makes one page per screenshot without adding a watermark.
Most of the work actually happens before the merge. Screenshots of a long chat, a web page or a set of steps only make sense in the right order, with a little overlap between scrolled captures and nothing private at the edges.
Open Merge Images to PDFTake Screenshots That Work in a PDF
On Windows, Microsoft's Snipping Tool guide lists Windows logo key + Shift + S to open the capture overlay. It has rectangle, window, full screen and freeform captures, so you can grab just the part of the screen you need.
On a Mac, Shift, Command and 3 captures the whole screen and Shift, Command and 4 a part of it. Apple's Mac screenshot guide lists an SDR (Most Compatible) option that saves PNG and an HDR option that saves HEIF.
Merge Images to PDF won't take HEIF or HEIC. Pick the PNG option, or turn those files into PDFs with HEIC to PDF and join them with Merge PDF, and save every capture of one topic into the same folder as you go.
How to Combine Screenshots Into One PDF
- Rename the screenshots with numbers in reading order, such as 01-login.png, 02-settings.png and 03-error.png.
- Open Merge Images to PDF and choose the files, or drop them onto the upload area.
- Check the order of the tiles and drag any tile to where it belongs. Forgot a capture? Add it with the plus button.
- Before you remove a duplicate tile, make sure it doesn't show anything the other captures miss.
- Press Merge to PDF and download the result.
- Open the PDF and check that the page count matches the number of screenshots and that each page follows the one before it.
In our test run with two small test images, a 35.6 KB JPG and a 15.8 KB PNG, the tool gave back a two-page PDF of 57.8 KB in the order we'd uploaded them. It deletes the uploaded images and the PDF from our server as soon as it sends the PDF back.
Keep Scrolled Captures in Order
When a page or chat is longer than the screen, scroll a bit less than a full screen each time. A line or message repeated at the bottom of one capture and the top of the next shows the reader nothing was skipped.
Merge Images to PDF puts each image on its own page. It won't stitch captures into one long page or notice a missing band, so compare the edges of neighbouring pages yourself.
For a conversation, keep the names and timestamps in the frame if you're allowed to share them. Without them, nobody can tell who said what, or when.
Page Size and Sharp Text
Each page takes the size of its image, so a wide desktop capture becomes a wide page and a phone capture a tall, narrow one. On screen that's fine, because viewers scale pages to fit.
If you need every page on A4 or Letter paper, convert PNG captures with PNG to PDF or JPG captures with JPG to PDF. Both offer a page size, orientation and margin, and both can merge the images into one file.
PNG keeps small interface text crisp, and JPG compression can blur it, so we'd save captures as PNG. Merge Images to PDF keeps the pixels of upright JPG and PNG files as they are, and the PDF looks as sharp as your screenshots.
Check the Edges Before You Share
Look past the main subject for other browser tabs, notifications, email previews, contact names and account pictures. If you can, close those and take the capture again.
If something has to be hidden, cover it in an image editor and save a new copy before you upload. The PDF only holds the pixels in the images you give it, so a covered area stays covered.
A merged PDF shows what was on screen. It doesn't prove when the screenshots were taken or that nothing was left out, so keep the original image files if that could matter later.
Screenshot PDFs for School and Work
For coursework, our guide to preparing a PDF for Canvas LMS upload covers file types and size limits, and the guide to converting a worksheet photo to PDF for Google Classroom covers turning work in.
Photographed paperwork needs the same ordering habits. The guide to converting scanned documents to PDF for a real estate closing applies them to pages that must be readable to the last digit.
Frequently Asked Questions about combining screenshots into one PDF
Can I change the order of screenshots before making the PDF?
Yes. Drag the tiles in Merge Images to PDF into the order you want, then check the order again in the downloaded PDF.
Which screenshot formats can I combine?
Merge Images to PDF takes JPG, PNG and BMP files of up to 25 MB each, with no limit on their number as long as one merge stays within 500 MB. Convert HEIC or HEIF captures first, or set your device to save PNG.
Will each screenshot fit on an A4 or Letter page?
Not in Merge Images to PDF, where each page takes the size of its image. If you need a fixed paper size, use PNG to PDF or JPG to PDF.
Does a merged PDF prove what the screenshots show?
No. It packages the images into one file, so keep the originals if anyone may later ask when or how they were taken.