How to Add Image to PDF on Mac in Preview or Free: 6 Ways

We all might do this: get a PDF document from others or grab it from Internet, then try to add an image to it, thinking how easy it is to do this on our MacBook or iMac. And suddenly it hits us, we don’t know how to insert a picture into PDF, even Mac Preview allows us to do so.

Here we will look at 6 ways to add an image to PDF on Mac, with or without Preview, using professional app or free tool, on latest Ventura or earlier macOS versions.

1. The Most Professional Way to Add Image to PDF on Mac
2. How to Insert Picture into PDF in Mac Preview
3. 3 Ways to Add Image to PDF on Mac Free Online
4. How to Insert Picture into PDF on Mac without Adobe Acrobat

The Most Professional Way to Add Image to PDF on Mac

Adobe Acrobat Pro is attested to be the best way to edit and insert picture to your PDFs on Mac. After all, as the creator of this format, Adobe has the greatest insight into needs of PDF users. It is home to all basic and professional PDF tools: create and edit PDF, organize pages, convert PDF, scan and OCR PDF,  fill and sign, share and review, protect and standardize, customize PDFs.

Regarding adding image to PDF, Adobe Acrobat Pro can insert different image formats and different genres of image, including adding signature image to PDF. You can insert image from local drive or copy from clipboard, also you can cut, copy, delete, overlay, link, crop, replace, flip, rotate, arrange, even edit the image with installed apps on your Mac.

About the price, Adobe gives a more flexible plan and pricing now, you can subscribe Standard or Pro version monthly or yearly, or get discounted bundles in Creative Cloud that allows you using multiple Adobe apps at a quite affordable price.

Let’s Add Image to PDF on Mac in Adobe Acrobat!

1. Grab a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Pro, install and open the app on your Mac machine.
2. Add the PDF file to Adobe Acrobat Pro, head to Edit PDF.
3. Choose Add Image, load and insert the image to your PDF.
4. Resize and position the image as per your need, also you can edit the image by right clicking it. Surely, you can add a signature image to the PDF too.
5. Finally, hit Save button, the image is now inserted to your PDF on Mac.

How to Insert Picture into PDF in Mac Preview

I know there are some Mac users expect to insert picture into PDF with Preview, they are not ready yet to add any new 3rd party PDF tools to their Mac. Preview has an Insert option under Edit toolbar, but it supports inserting image to PDF as an individual PDF page only. If you want to embed or overlay an image into PDF as an object in Preview, the process can be a little complicated, we can do as follows.

Let’s Insert Picture into PDF with Mac Preview

1. Open the PDF file, also open the image that you want to add to the PDF with Preview.
2. In the image, show markup toolbar and use the selection tool to select the whole image, press Command+C to copy the image to your clipboard, then press Command+V to paste the image over the original image in Preview, then click on the pasted image again (there will be a blue-dot frame) and press Command+C to copy the image again.
3. Go to the PDF file in another Preview window, press Command+V to paste the image onto the PDF.
4. Resize the image by dragging the corners and move the image around with hand tool until it is perfectly added into the PDF as an individual object.
5. Go to File>Save.

3 Ways to Add Image to PDF on Mac Free Online

Also, I want to share with you another free but effective solution to insert photo to PDF on Mac, using online free PDF Editor. There are 3 tools recommended.

1. PDFescape

PDFescape can insert text, image, link, form field, whiteout, freehand to PDF, also it can annotate, organize PDF pages, print, encrypt and download the edited PDFs.

Let’s Add Image to PDF on Mac Free Online

1. Navigate to PDFescape Online in your web browser.
2. Choose upload PDF>Drag PDF to import your PDF.
3. Choose Insert>Image, upload the picture you want to add to PDF.
4. Click and drag on page to insert the image, you can delete, duplicate or adjust the image settings.

Notes:

You can only add a new image and replace the original one, you cannot delete existing images in the PDF.

2. Google Docs

Another option to insert photo to PDF on Mac with online service is using Google Docs from Google Drive. Better than PDFescape by letting users edit the PDF file with more controls, because it opens PDF in Google Docs, allows users to edit the file the same way as edit a Word document, you can insert, delete and change contents, then save the document back to PDF format. So, it might be worse than PDFescape by keeping original format, it converts your file during the Edit and Save process.

Let’s Add Image to PDF on Mac Free Online

1. Login in your Google Account, go to Google Drive and drag n drop to upload the PDF file.
2. Right click on the PDF file and open with Google Docs.
3. Place your mouse pointer to where you want to insert the image and click.
4. Head to Insert, choose a way to upload the image you want to insert.
5. Use the image options for adjustments.
6. Head to File>Download>PDF Document.

3. Sejda

The third but not the least reliable online way to add image to PDF on Mac is using Sejda PDF editor. It gives the fullest control over PDF editing, letting users to add and change text, add and delete image, insert link, fill form, sign, annotate, add shapes and so on. However it has limitations, you can edit up to 200 pages or 50MB and 3 tasks per hour.

Let’s Add Image to PDF on Mac Free Online

1. Navigate to sejda.com/pdf-editor in your web browser.
2. Upload PDF file.
3. Head to Images>New Image, insert the image to your PDF.
4. Resize or move around the image until you are OK with the result, hit Apply changes.
5. Download the PDF to your Mac.

How to Add Image to PDF on Mac without Adobe Acrobat

You might have your own reason to say no to a Acrobat subscription, whatever it is, it is wise to find a PDF tool catering to your needs. Adding image to PDF on Mac is not as complicated as editing texts in a PDF, a simple PDF editor is also a good choice. When you cast our look to those compact PDF editors, you will find PDFChef to be a great choice.

Honestly, PDFChef doesn’t offer features as rich as Adobe, but it covers all adds-on you will need to edit and convert a PDF, at a very low price.

What PDFChef Offers:

• Edit images in PDF: add, delete, rotate, resize
• Edit PDF texts: add, delete, modify
• Add signature to PDFs
• Organize PDF pages: add, delete, merge
• Create PDF from blank page, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, ePub, DJVU, Image, etc.
• Export PDF as Word, ePub, HTML, TXT and Image

Let’s Add Image to PDF on Mac without Adobe Acrobat Easily!

1. Grab a copy of PDFChef Editor and install it on your Mac, open the App.
2. Drag and drop the PDF file to Movavi.
3. Go to Edit>Image, add the photo you want to insert to the PDF. Also, you can add a signature image to the PDF if you want to.
4. Then move and resize the photo according to your need.
5. Once ready, go to File>Save, the picture has been inserted to your PDF on Mac.

Notes:

To replace an existing image in PDF, delete it, then add a new picture to the PDF file.

In Summary

The best bet to add image to an existing PDF on Mac is grabbing a paid tool, if Adobe or PDFChef is not outside your budget, because they do more than you think. If you want to insert picture into PDF on Mac without downloading any new software, go to the PDF tools in your web browser, but there is 2 caveats, they offer basic feature and options only, and have limits.