Text messages to PDF or other method to send/save?????

There are 3rd party apps for your computer that will create neatly formatted PDFs of text conversations, as well as other iOS device content; TouchCopy for both Windows & Mac, or PhoneView for Macs only.

I second Lawrence's recommendation of a third-party application. I've been using PhoneView for years. It will make very attractive pdfs of your conversations including the photos. It's not free but it does the job well and I never regretted purchasing it.

AGGorski wrote:

Any idea why it has to be through a 3rd party app?

Because right now, Apple doesn't offer a way to do what you want. So, if this is something you want or need to do now, third-party is your only option.

You can certainly let Apple know what you'd like to see in the future:

Product Feedback - Apple

Take screenshots and export those.

This is a user to user forum. No one here can answer any question that begins with “why” when referring to Apple decisions.