The print to PDF feature on your iPhone and iPad makes it easy to convert a web page or document that you’re viewing to PDF and save that file to the cloud, email it to yourself, or copy or import it into another app.
Any app on your iPhone or iPad that supports printing can also print to PDF. You don’t actually print the web page or document, but you do create a PDF file that is a copy of what the document would have looked like had you printed it to a real printer. It’s not obvious how to print to PDF on an iPhone or iPad, but it’s not difficult either, and I’ll show you how.
How to Print to PDF from Almost Any App
Step 1
As an example, I will print a web page to a PDF file from within Safari. When viewing the web page in Safari, tap the Share icon at the bottom of the screen.
Step 2
On the Share Sheet, tap the Print icon.
Step 3
A preview of the document displays with some options at the top. If you have an iPhone 6/6S or above, you can use the 3D Touch feature. Tap and hold your finger down on the preview of the document to “peek” at it and then press harder to “pop” into the full document.
If you’re using an older iPhone or an iPad without the 3D Touch feature, perform the pinch-out gesture. This means putting two fingers together on the preview of the document and then spreading your fingers out on the screen.
Step 4
The next screen shows what the web page or document will look like when converted to PDF. To print to PDF, tap the Share icon at the bottom of the screen.
Step 5
Now, you can choose whether you want to save the PDF file to the cloud, email it to yourself, or save it to another app that accepts PDF files. I want to save my PDF file to my Google Drive account, so I tap the Drive icon on the Share Sheet.
Step 6
The title of the web page becomes the file name for the PDF file. Now, I can upload the PDF file to my Google Drive account and have access to it from any device. This screen differs depending on the sharing method you choose on the Share Sheet.
Some apps include a PDF export feature natively, such as Pages, Numbers, and Keynote with their Send a Copy feature. However, the print to PDF workaround provides support for creating PDF files in almost any app.
