Add an image to a PDF

On a page, or as a page

There are two ways to bring an image into a PDF, and they do different things:

• On a page, with the Picture tool: a logo in a corner, a stamp on a form, a photo next to a paragraph. That is what this page is about.
• As a page of its own, by dropping the picture on the open document or using Add pages from other files…: a full-page photo or scan. See JPG to PDF.

Pictures placed on a page sit on top of what is printed there. Put them in a clear area, such as a margin, a header or an empty box, so they do not cover text. Zoom out with Fit to see the whole page while you position one. A page can hold as many pictures as you like.

Getting a clean result

• Transparent PNGs suit logos and signatures: only the drawing shows, and the page shows around it. A JPG always brings its own background, usually a white rectangle.
• Size. Pictures larger than 1600 pixels on their long side, as most phone photos are, are scaled down to 1600 pixels as they are placed, still sharp across a full page width. Smaller PNG and JPG pictures go in as they are.
• Other formats, such as WebP, GIF and BMP, are converted to PNG on the way in; a GIF gives its first frame.
• Proportions. Resizing keeps the picture's shape, so a logo is never squashed.

A big photo that gets scaled is stored as PNG, which can be larger than the JPG it came from. To keep the PDF small, resize photos to 1600 pixels or less first with the image resizer, and they go in as JPG.

Stamps, seals and signatures

A stamp is a common use: a company seal, a RECEIVED stamp or an APPROVED mark, scanned once and kept as a PNG. Place it on each page that needs it, one at a time; there is no option to put a picture on every page at once. For a word on every page, a text watermark is quicker.

A scanned signature is placed the same way. Photograph it on plain white paper and crop it close, so it fits the signature line. Or skip the scan and draw or type a signature with Sign, which gives it a transparent background for you and remembers it for next time.

Documents that need both a seal and a signature can have both: place the seal with Picture and the signature with Sign. They may overlap a little, the way ink does on paper.

Logos, letterheads and photos

To put a plain PDF on your letterhead, place your logo at the top of the first page and type your company details beside it with Text. For a set of pages, place it page by page; a small logo near a corner rarely gets in the way.

Photos work the same way: a product shot on a price list, a headshot on a CV made as a PDF, a map next to directions. Crop them first with crop image, since a picture cannot be cropped once it is on the page.

Until you save, a picture can be moved, resized or removed: select it and press Remove or Delete. When you save, it is drawn into the page and shows and prints the same in every reader.