img2pdf · Support

How to turn photos into a PDF on iPhone with no watermark

If the paper is in front of you, scan it with the document scanner built into Apple's Notes, Files or Preview apps: the result is a PDF with no watermark, and it costs nothing. If you need to combine photos you have already taken into one PDF, use an app that doesn't watermark its output, such as img2pdf, a free app that works entirely on your iPhone and adds no watermark unless you ask for one.

By Quan Dang · 22 September 2026

Why watermarks appear

Some PDF makers add their own name or logo to every page, sometimes until you pay to remove it. That is awkward on a document you are sending to an employer, a landlord or an office. The routes below don't do that.

The built-in route: Apple's document scanner

iPhone can scan paper documents straight to PDF, capturing pages automatically and letting you add more pages. Apple describes this in How to scan documents on your iPhone or iPad, which covers Notes and Files, and in Scan text and documents in Preview on iPhone for iOS 26 and later.

When this is enough: you have the paper to hand, you want a straightforward multi-page PDF, and you are happy with the defaults. For a letter, a form or a receipt you are about to send, this is often all you need.

When a dedicated app helps

The scanner is built around paper you are holding. It is less suited to the other common cases:

• The pages are already photos in your library, such as a receipt you photographed last week or pages a friend sent you.
• You want to mix scans, photos and existing PDFs into one document, in a particular order.
• You need a specific page size, such as US Letter or A4, or several small images on one sheet.
• You need the PDF to be searchable, signed, or under a certain file size.

Using img2pdf

img2pdf is a free photo-to-PDF maker for iPhone that turns receipts, forms and paperwork into a small, clean PDF you can scan, sign and search, entirely on the device, with no account. It is made by Quan Dang.

• No watermark by default. There is an optional text watermark if you want one, but nothing is added unless you turn it on.
• Any source. Scan with the built-in document scanner, take photos with the camera, pick from your photo library, or import existing PDFs from Files.
• Layout. Drag pages to reorder them, put 1–4 images on each sheet, add text pages between images, and choose US Letter, A4 or original size with fit, fill or stretch.
• Clean-up. Crop (1:1, 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9 presets), rotate, adjust brightness and contrast, auto-enhance, and apply an automatic document look to scans.
• Searchable. Text is recognised on the device and written into the PDF as an invisible layer. You can also copy, edit or share the recognised text as .txt.
• Signed. Draw a signature and place it on any page. It is flattened into the PDF on the device.
• Small. A compact greyscale export preset, plus Email, Print and HD presets with a size estimate, and page numbers if you want them.

img2pdf works offline and has no tracking. Your photos and scans never leave the device.

If the PDF is still too large

Photos from a modern phone camera are large, so a PDF made from several of them can be too big to email. Pick the compact or Email preset when you export from img2pdf. If a PDF from anywhere else needs shrinking, Smart PDF Compressor, also by Quan Dang, compresses PDFs by up to 95% on your iPhone or iPad without uploading them. See How to make a scanned PDF small enough to email from iPhone.