How-to How to KYC PDF document upload Account opening

How to convert images to a PDF for KYC document upload

From WebNotes, a public knowledge base. Last updated 19 June 2026. Reading time ~8 min. Level: Beginner.

Procedure

Photograph each page flat and in good lightLay the document on a plain surface, fill the frame, and avoid shadow and glare. Capture every page that the proof needs, front and back where required.
On iPhone, scan to PDF with the Files or Notes appIn Files, tap the three-dot menu and choose Scan Documents; the camera auto-detects edges and saves a multi-page PDF. The Notes app offers the same Scan Documents action.
On Android, scan to PDF with Google DriveOpen Google Drive, tap the plus button, choose Scan, capture each page, add pages with the plus icon, then Save. Drive stores the result as a single PDF.
On a desktop, combine images with print-to-PDFOpen the images in the Windows Photos app or macOS Preview, select all pages, choose Print, and pick Save as PDF or Microsoft Print to PDF as the printer.
Check legibility and orientationOpen the finished PDF and confirm every number, name and signature is sharp and upright. Re-scan any page that is blurred, cropped or rotated.
Bring the file within the upload size limitIf the PDF exceeds the form’s limit, re-export at a lower scan quality, or grayscale text-only proofs, until the file is comfortably under the stated maximum.

A KYC document upload form usually wants one PDF per proof, not a folder of loose photographs, and that single requirement is where many applicants get stuck. This guide shows how to turn photos of an identity proof, address proof or financial proof into a single, legible PDF that stays within a broker’s upload size limit, using the tools already built into an iPhone, an Android phone and a desktop computer. The methods are generic, so they work for any portal, though the framing here is the documents required for a Zerodha account and similar broker KYC uploads.

The goal is narrow and practical: one file, every page legible, upright, and small enough to upload. Get those four things right and the upload step passes on the first attempt.

Conflict-of-interest disclosure. This guide is published by WebNotes Editorial Team for informational purposes. It documents a generic file-conversion task, carries no referral link, and WebNotes earns no commission from it. The named apps are device-built-in tools cited only as the shortest free path; WebNotes has no relationship with their makers.

Why brokers require a PDF

A demat or trading account application collects several proofs, and a PDF gives the back-office one self-contained file per proof rather than a scatter of images that can arrive in the wrong order or go missing. A single financial proof, such as a bank statement, often runs to several pages; bundling those pages into one PDF keeps them together and in sequence. A PDF also preserves a fixed page layout, so the reviewer sees the document the way you saw it, without a viewer rotating or re-cropping it.

The practical effect is fewer rejections. When the front and back of a PAN card, or a multi-page bank statement, arrive as one ordered file, the reviewer at the depository participant does not have to reassemble loose images, and a missing page does not silently fail the proof. That is why nearly every Indian broker upload field accepts PDF and many accept only PDF for financial proofs.

Method 1: scan to PDF on an iPhone

iOS has a document scanner inside both the Files app and the Notes app, and it produces a true multi-page PDF without any download.

In the Files app, tap the three-dot menu in the top right, choose Scan Documents, and point the camera at the page. The scanner auto-detects the document edges and captures automatically, or you press the shutter for manual capture. Capture the next page, and the next, then tap Save. Files writes a single PDF containing every page in the order scanned.

The Notes app offers the identical action: create a note, tap the camera icon, choose Scan Documents, capture the pages, and then share the note’s scan as a PDF. Either route gives you a flat, deskewed, multi-page file that reads better than a raw photo because the scanner corrects perspective and trims the background.

Method 2: scan to PDF on Android with Google Drive

Most Android phones ship with Google Drive, which has a built-in scanner that saves straight to PDF.

Open Google Drive, tap the plus button, and choose Scan. Photograph the first page; Drive shows a crop and enhance screen where you adjust the edges and pick a colour or grayscale filter. Tap the plus icon to add the next page, repeat for every page, then tap Save. Drive stores the result as a single PDF in your account, from where you download it to upload to the broker form. Many Android makers, including Samsung and Xiaomi, also bundle a native scan-to-PDF tool in their gallery or camera app, which works the same way if you prefer not to use Drive.

Method 3: print-to-PDF on a desktop

When the images are already on a computer, the fastest route is the built-in print-to-PDF, which combines several selected images into one PDF.

On Windows, select the image files in File Explorer, right-click and choose Print, or open them in the Photos app, then in the print dialogue pick Microsoft Print to PDF as the printer, set the layout to full page, select all the pages, and Print. Windows asks where to save the resulting PDF.

On macOS, open the images in Preview, select all the thumbnails in the sidebar, choose File, Print, and from the PDF dropdown at the bottom left of the print dialogue choose Save as PDF. Preview writes every selected image as one page of a single PDF. This route is useful for combining a scanned front and back, or several statement pages already saved as images, into one ordered file.

Keeping the file within the upload limit

Broker upload fields cap the file size, often at a few megabytes, and a high-resolution multi-page scan can overshoot it. Reduce the size in order of least to most aggressive.

First, lower the scan quality or resolution at export. The phone scanners and Preview let you choose a smaller or compressed output, which cuts size sharply with little visible loss on a text document. Second, use grayscale or black-and-white for text-only proofs such as a bank statement; colour is unnecessary there and roughly triples file size. Third, if the file is still too large, split nothing but re-scan at a lower setting rather than uploading a colour photo-quality scan. On macOS, the Preview Export menu has a Quartz Filter called Reduce File Size; on Windows, re-printing to PDF at a lower image quality has the same effect. Aim to land comfortably under the stated limit rather than at the edge of it.

Ensuring legibility

A small file is useless if the reviewer cannot read it. Before uploading, open the finished PDF at full zoom and check four things: every digit and letter is sharp, the whole page is in frame with no clipped edges, each page is upright rather than rotated or upside down, and there is no glare washing out a number or a signature. Re-scan any page that fails. For a PAN card or Aadhaar, the card number, name, date of birth and photograph all have to be legible; for a bank statement, the account number, name and IFSC have to read clearly. A legible grayscale scan beats a sharp-looking but oversized colour photo every time, because the form will accept the former and reject the latter on size.

A correctly built PDF, one ordered file with every page legible and the whole thing under the limit, removes the most common reason an upload step or account opening goes on hold : an unreadable or oversized proof.

What can go wrong

Loose images instead of one file: the form wants a single PDF per proof. Use a scan-to-PDF tool that combines pages, not separate image uploads.
File too large: re-export at lower scan quality, switch text proofs to grayscale, or use Reduce File Size (macOS) until you are under the stated megabyte limit.
Blurred or low-light capture: a sharp PDF needs a sharp photo. Re-shoot on a plain surface in even light, filling the frame, before scanning.
Glare on a laminated card: tilt the card or move the light so no number or signature is washed out.
Rotated or upside-down pages: open the PDF and rotate each page upright before uploading; reviewers reject sideways scans.
Missing page of a multi-page proof: confirm every page of a bank statement or both sides of a card are in the file and in order before saving.
Wrong file type: export as PDF, not as a renamed image; some forms validate the actual file format, not just the extension.

External references

References

SEBI Master Circular for Stock Brokers, KYC document collection requirements (SEBI/HO/MIRSD/MIRSD-PoD-1/P/CIR/2022/73, 25 May 2022).
CDSL and NSDL account-opening document checklists, which specify acceptable proof formats for depository accounts (accessed 19 June 2026).
Zerodha account opening support, documents and upload guidance (support.zerodha.com, accessed 19 June 2026).

Reviewed and published by

WebNotes Editorial Team

The WebNotes Editorial Team covers Indian capital markets, payments infrastructure and retail investor procedures. Every article is fact-checked against primary sources, principally SEBI circulars and master directions, NPCI specifications and the official support documentation published by the intermediary in question. Drafts go through a second-pair-of-eyes review and a separate compliance read before publication, and revisions are tracked against the SEBI and NPCI rule changes referenced in the methodology section.

Last reviewed: 19 June 2026
Conflicts of interest: WebNotes is independent. No relationship with any broker, registrar or bank named in this article.

Time required	2 to 5 minutes per document
Cost	Free, using built-in phone and desktop tools
Documents needed	Clear, in-focus photos or scans of each page to be combined