Guide

Combine photos or scans into one PDF with Claude or ChatGPT

Forms, contracts and receipts arrive as separate photos and scans, and every upload form wants one PDF. With Desktop Steward the AI finds the images, shows you the page order, and writes one PDF; the originals stay where they were.

Step 1: ask

Combine the three scans I made today in Pictures into one PDF called Lease 2026.

I found scan-001.jpg, scan-002.jpg and scan-003.jpg from today. Page order: 001, 002, 003. Creating Documents/AI Workspace/Lease 2026.pdf (3 pages, 2.1 MB). Done.

Ready-made card: in Claude Desktop press + → Add from Desktop Steward → “Scans to one PDF”. In ChatGPT just ask in words.

Getting the order right

The AI sorts by file name, then by time taken. If your photos are named IMG_2041, IMG_2039, IMG_2040, say which order you want: “page 1 is IMG_2039”. You can also ask for a page to be rotated or left out.

JPG, PNG and HEIC photos from an iPhone all work. Each image becomes one page at its own size, so a photo taken straight on looks best.

Where the PDF goes

By default the AI may only write in Documents/AI Workspace and Downloads, so that is where the PDF lands unless you opened another folder for changes in the panel. Originals are never moved or deleted; if you want them gone afterwards, say so and a confirmation window will ask you first.

Questions

Can it make a PDF from a Word document or a web page?

Not yet; it reads Word documents and PDFs, and builds PDFs from images. Export the document to PDF from its own app, then ask to combine.

Does it compress the images?

No. Pages keep the original image quality, so a 12-megapixel photo makes a large page. Ask the AI to downscale first if the upload has a size limit.

Try it with Desktop Steward

Free on Mac and Windows. Asks before anything risky, undo for every change.

Download for Mac or Windows