How do I turn iPhone or iPad screenshots into a step-by-step guide?

A PDF of pictures, or a guide?

A PDF of pictures is fine for keeping receipts or sending a set of screenshots. You can make one for free on iPhone or iPad: save the pictures to Files, select them and choose Create PDF.

A guide has a different job. It helps someone do a task for the first time, so every next action has to be written down, not guessed from the difference between two pictures.

Try this test. Hide the pictures and read the instructions: does the sequence make sense? Then hide the instructions and look at the pictures: can you find each control and see the result? A good guide passes both.

Pick screenshots that show the decisions

Keep the screen before an action when you need to point at a control. Keep the screen after it when the result matters. Only the picture before a form is filled in shows where each field is.

For a return request, you might keep the order details, the item picker, the reason field, the confirmation card and the success screen. Skip the five near-identical pictures of the keyboard while one sentence is typed.

Use screenshots from the same app version and the same account role. A customer screen mixed with an administrator screen describes a task nobody can follow. If a screen is missing, capture it or ask for it rather than filling the gap with a guess.

Example: a return request

From the site’s Alder demo shop. Use the exact labels from your own app.

Picture	Weak caption	Useful instruction
Order details	Order screen	Tap Return items to open the return form.
Item selection	Pick item	Tap Return beside the item you are sending back. Check it’s the right one.
Reason field	Enter information	Tap Tell us what’s wrong and describe the problem.
Note written	Send	Tap Send when the note describes the problem.
Confirmation card	Confirm	Check the refund details on the Send this return? card, then tap Send return.
Success screen	Done	Check that Return started appears. That means the request went through.

Keep the last picture. It shows readers the action worked, so they don’t repeat it. Put any check before the button that commits.

Make the exported page readable

Walkthru offers three PDF layouts. Start with one step per page when small controls must stay readable. Try compact for a shorter printed handout, and check the smallest text at the size the reader will see it. Choose checklist for people who already know the screens and just need to track the sequence.

A real page from the demo guide’s PDF export. Judge readability on the export, where the reader will see it.

Crop loosely enough to keep the screen’s title and the controls around the target. Place the tap marker beside or over the button without hiding its label. If a picture needs a paragraph of explanation, put that in the step’s caption.

On iPad

Walkthru works the same way on iPad. iPad screenshots import at full resolution and keep their shape on the PDF page. You can place markers with Apple Pencil, and the bigger screen makes it easier to check each picture at full size before you export.

Send it as a support reply

If you answer the same “how do I…?” question every week, send a short guide instead of typing the steps again. Pair it with a reply that still answers the customer:

You can [do the task] from [starting screen]. Follow the steps in [the attached guide]. You are finished when you see [visible result].

If you don’t see [control], check [one likely cause]. If it still looks different, reply with the step number and the words on your screen. Please leave out passwords and sign-in codes.

The success check heads off a “did it work?” follow-up. The last line asks for the one detail that moves the conversation forward.

Match the export to the channel:

Channel	Send	Check before sending
Chat or a short email	Two or three Step images plus the actions written out	The chat app hasn’t shrunk the pictures until the labels blur
A longer task the customer will keep	PDF guide	It opens, and the smallest text is readable
A help-centre article	Markdown bundle, or the step images with your own text	Images load and headings are in order in the published preview

Build the guide from a clean sample account rather than a customer’s screenshots. A customer’s pictures carry their details. Covering an email address can still leave a name in a header or a reference number in a notification.

Fixing a guide that readers get stuck on

Problem	What to change
The reader can’t find the first screen	Say where to start and what access they need, before step one.
Two pictures seem to skip an action	Add the missing screen or spell out the action in between.
The pictures look alike but show different permissions	Capture them again with the reader’s account role.
The exported text is too small	Use a larger PDF layout, or crop carefully so the screen is still recognizable.
A private detail appears in several places	Check every picture. Copying a redaction box doesn’t find the same text elsewhere.

Open the exported file before you share it. Accepted redactions are drawn into the export, while the editable guide keeps the original pictures. The screenshot redaction checklist covers what to check beyond the automatic offers.

Walkthru assembles the steps and flags private details. The instructions, the markers and the final check of every picture stay with you.

Keep the editable guide. When the app moves a button, follow the update checklist to fix the picture, the instruction and the shared copy together. For the whole process, from recording to export, see how to make a step-by-step guide on iPhone or iPad. For a printed guide for a family member, see the cheat sheet for an older parent.