Photograph a passport page into a clean PDF

Start with the request, not the camera

Tomás is applying for a flat through a letting agency. Their portal wants his passport photo page as one PDF, no bigger than 2 MB, before 5 pm on Thursday. He has an iPhone and twenty minutes, and the first five go on reading the upload instructions, because they settle everything else. Look for answers to these:

• Which pages: only the photo page, or also the signature page, an observations page, a visa or an entry stamp.
• One file for everything, or a separate file for each page.
• Color, or whether greyscale is allowed.
• File type: PDF only, JPG only, or either.
• The size cap, and whether it applies to each file or to the whole upload.
• Whether a phone photo is accepted at all, or they want a certified copy, the original document, or an in-person check.

If something is not stated, ask. Short of time, pick what throws nothing away: full page, in color, as a PDF.

Set up the shot

Put the open passport on a plain, dark, matte surface so the pale page edges stand out. Sit by a window in daylight, out of direct sun, and turn the flash off: the laminate over the data page throws direct light back into the lens as a white blob.

Passports spring shut, and the curve blurs whatever sits near the fold. Rest a heavy book on the other half. Hold the phone parallel to the page, directly above it, at the normal 1x lens, and move closer rather than pinching to zoom.

Tap the screen on the bottom lines to set focus there. Take three shots, nudging the passport a few degrees between them, and keep the one with crisp code lines and no reflection on the portrait. A document scanning mode also works if its crop keeps all four corners and its filter does not bleach the photo. Our general phone scanning guide goes deeper on light and framing.

Turn the photo into a PDF here

1. Open JPG to PDF on the device that holds the photo. A phone browser is fine. If your phone saved the picture as HEIC, use HEIC to PDF instead; the steps are the same.
2. Press Choose images and pick the photo, or several photos if the form wants more than one page in a single file.
3. Use the arrow buttons to put the pages in the order the form lists them, for example the photo page first and the signature page second.
4. Choose the page fit. Match image, the default, makes the page exactly the shape of the photo. A4 or US Letter suits a copy that will be printed and filed, and the Narrow margin keeps the passport edges away from the paper edge.
5. Press Create PDF. The tool reopens the result and checks the page count, every page size and the pixel dimensions of each picture before Download PDF appears.
6. Save it under a name the reviewer will recognise, such as Novak_Tomas_passport.pdf, unless the form sets a pattern.

The JPG goes in byte for byte, so quality does not drop, and the camera's rotation flag is applied to the page. If a page still ends up sideways, Rotate PDF fixes it. The catch: the PDF weighs about as much as the photo.

Getting under the upload cap

A full-resolution phone photo can be several megabytes by itself. Open Compress PDF, choose the file and type the limit from the form into the exact target box. For Tomás that is 2 MB. The tool aims to land below the number, not on it, and shows a side-by-side preview before you download.

Zoom the preview in on the bottom lines. If characters have smeared together, raise the target if the form allows, or reshoot with the page filling more of the frame.

One trap catches people near the limit. PDFGym counts a kilobyte as 1,024 bytes, while some upload forms count 1,000. If a file that looks small enough is still refused, set the target a little lower, say 1,900 KB for a 2 MB cap, and run it again.

What else rides along inside the file

The PDF has its own properties, such as producer software and creation dates. Run the finished copy through the privacy scan to see them and strip the ones you choose.

The photo can carry data of its own. JPG to PDF copies the JPG unchanged, so anything your camera stored inside it, including location if tagging was on, ends up in the PDF, and the privacy scan does not look inside pictures. Turn location tagging off before shooting, or leave location out when you share the photo. HEIC to PDF decodes the pixels and saves a fresh JPEG, so camera data is not copied.

Once the submission is accepted, delete the working copies from downloads, chats and your photo library, including its recently deleted album.

Rejections you can fix before sending

When a phone photo is the wrong route

If the instructions mention a certified copy, the original document or an appointment, a PDF made at home will not substitute, however sharp it is.

If the organisation offers its own app or upload flow for identity checks, use it instead of emailing a file; it can verify things a flat image cannot. A flatbed scanner at a library or print shop is better when the copy must print at true size or the glare will not go away.

Be wary of anyone asking for a passport copy by email when you did not start the contact. Confirm through a number or website you found yourself.