How to create PDF on iPhone using Notes app

iPhone users can use the Notes app to create PDFs, learn how

Tech Desk - Jul 06, 2024

An undated image of an iPhone 15. — Unsplash

Portable Document Format (PDFs) are electronic copies of printed documents that make sifting through files much easier than the traditional method of looking through the drawers.

How to create PDF from paper document

There's a common myth that users must install an app to generate a PDF, the most popular being Adobe Acrobat, although iPhone and iPad users need not hassle, Apple lets users make a PDF natively, through the Notes app and here's how.

On the Notes app, create a new document by selecting the icon in the lower right corner.
Select the Attach icon. From the pop-up menu, tap on Scan Documents.
Position your phone over your paper document. Notes will find the document, indicate it via an orange overlay, scan it, and then drop a thumbnail image in the lower-left corner of the screen.
If the document has more than one page, move on to the next.
Once all documents have been scanned, select Save in the lower right corner.
Adjust the icons at the bottom.
Finally, tap Done in the top left corner, and then Save in the lower right corner.

How to create PDF from file

To convert an existing file into a PDF in the Files app, Safari or other apps, consider the following steps:

Open the file and find the Share icon.
Scroll down and tap on either Markup or Print.
On Markup, draw on the PDF if need be. When ready, select Done > Save File To… Now, just select where to save the PDF, and what to call it.
If Printing, look for the thumbnails at the bottom of the resulting Options page. Long-press on the chosen thumbnail and then tap it, it will generate a PDF.
Selecting the Share icon in the lower left corner will let you save the PDF to Files or another app.