If I turn my phone photos into a PDF and send it, can the photo location and camera details still be inside?

Why the data travels with the photo

A phone camera writes a block called EXIF inside every JPEG: the date taken, the device model, the camera settings and sometimes GPS coordinates if location is enabled for the camera. That block is part of the file itself. Images to PDF preserves quality by embedding the JPEG file as it is with no re-encoding, which means the whole block goes in with it. Anyone who later extracts the images from the PDF with a suitable tool may find that data.

Which photos lose their data and which do not

• A JPEG with no note next to its name in the list: embedded as it is, so its data is inside the file if it had any.
• A JPEG with a note that it was rotated for its EXIF orientation and re-encoded at quality 92: it was redrawn, so its data did not come along.
• A WebP with a conversion note: also redrawn, so its data does not come along.
• Screenshots: rarely carry a location, but their content can show worse things, such as an address or phone number.

In the PDF itself, the tool writes its own name in the producer and creator fields only; it does not add your name or your device's.

How to clean the photos before converting

1. Open Image metadata inspector and remover and add the photo. It lists what it actually found in the file: EXIF, a location if present, and so on.
2. If a GPS location or anything else you would rather not share appears, remove it. Removal works on the file container without re-encoding the pixels, so no quality is lost.
3. Mind the orientation warning: if the photo's orientation is not 1, removing EXIF can make it appear sideways. In that case there is no need to clean it at all, because the PDF tool redraws it and drops its data anyway. Or rotate it first, then clean it.
4. Add the cleaned photos to the converter and build the PDF.

When this really matters

Product photos taken in your storeroom or at home, and document photos taken on your home desk, can reveal your location to within metres if location is enabled for the camera. If you are sending a catalog to customers you do not know, or publishing the file openly, those two minutes are worth it. If the file is going to your accountant or an official body you know, the risk is lower and the call is yours.

A simpler fix for the future

In your phone's camera or privacy settings you can switch off location permission for the camera. Coordinates are then never written into new photos. That does not change older photos; they still need cleaning as above.