Convert PNG to PDF 2026 — Free Online

Turn PNG images into a PDF. PNGs are usually screenshots, diagrams or logos rather than photographs, and that changes what the settings should be — most importantly the quality slider, which re-encodes them as JPEG.

The quality slider matters more for PNG than for JPG

PNG is lossless, so a screenshot or a diagram has perfectly clean edges. Embedding it re-encodes the image as JPEG at the quality you set, and JPEG is exactly the wrong compression for sharp black-on-white edges — it leaves faint grey haloes around text and thin lines.

So keep the quality high for PNG sources. At the top of the range the haloes stay invisible; halfway down, a screenshot of a terminal or a spreadsheet starts to look smudged in a way the original never did.

This is the opposite trade-off from photographs, where a lower setting costs nothing visible and saves real size.

  • PNG sources are usually screenshots, diagrams, logos — sharp edges
  • JPEG re-encoding haloes those edges; keep the quality high
  • Photographs tolerate a lower setting; line art does not

Transparency does not survive

A PNG with a transparent background is flattened when it is placed on the page. Whatever was transparent becomes the page underneath it, which is white.

For a logo or a diagram that was designed on white anyway, nothing changes. For an image drawn to sit over a coloured background, the result will look different from what you saw in an editor, and the fix is to flatten it onto the background you want before converting.

Screenshots and page shape

Screenshots are usually wider than they are tall, and a portrait page leaves a lot of white above and below. Landscape orientation uses the space far better for a set of them, and a smaller margin helps again.

Long screenshots — a full web page captured in one image — are the awkward case. Scaled to fit a page they become unreadable. Splitting the capture into sections before converting gives a document someone can actually read.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will my PNG stay lossless in the PDF?

No. Images are re-encoded as JPEG at the quality you choose, so keep that high for PNG sources — JPEG leaves faint haloes around the sharp edges PNG preserves perfectly.

What happens to a transparent background?

It is flattened onto the page, which is white. If the image was designed to sit over a colour, flatten it onto that colour before converting.

My screenshots look small on the page.

Screenshots are usually wide, and a portrait page wastes the space. Switch to landscape orientation and reduce the margin.

Can I convert a very long screenshot?

You can, but scaled to fit a single page it will be too small to read. Split the capture into sections first and convert those.

Is PNG or JPG better as a source?

Neither is better in general — it depends on the picture. PNG sources need a high quality setting because of their sharp edges; photographs tolerate a lower one.

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