pdfpix

Convert a PDF to JPG

Turning PDF pages into images is a one-way trip. You get a picture of each page that pastes into anything, and you lose selectable text, searching and sharp edges at every zoom level. Pick the resolution for where the image is going, and keep the PDF for anything that still has to be read.

What you lose when a page becomes an image

The text stops being text. Nobody can select a line, search for a word, or copy an address out of it. A screen reader finds nothing. That is the whole trade, and it is worth stating before the conversion rather than after.

You also fix the resolution. A PDF page is drawn fresh at whatever zoom the reader is using, so it stays sharp. An image has the pixels it has, and beyond that it goes soft.

Picking a resolution

The export tool offers 96, 150 or 300 dots per inch. Choose 96 for a thumbnail or a quick preview, 150 for anything read on screen or dropped into a slide, and 300 when the image will be printed.

Higher is not automatically better. Tripling the resolution multiplies the file size, and an image destined for a chat message gains nothing from print resolution. Pick for the destination.

JPG or PNG

JPG is right for pages that are mostly photographs or scans. It compresses continuous tone well and the artefacts hide in the detail. It is also what most people mean when they say they want images of a PDF.

PNG is right for pages that are mostly text, line art or diagrams. It keeps hard edges exact, so small type stays legible instead of growing a halo. The file is larger, which on a text page is a fair trade.

One page or all of them

Pick the pages you want before exporting. A single page comes back as one image file. More than one comes back as a zip holding one file per page, named in page order with a padded number so they sort correctly.

Very large pages have a limit. At a high resolution a poster-sized page can exceed what a browser canvas will draw, and the tool says so and asks for a lower resolution rather than producing something broken.

When you wanted the pictures, not the pages

Rendering a page gives you the whole page: text, margins, headers and all. If what you actually want is the photograph that was placed on the page, this is the wrong operation and you will end up cropping.

Extracting the embedded images is a different job, and this tool does not do it. Rendering then cropping works and costs quality. Knowing the difference before you start saves the second attempt.

Going the other way

Images to PDF takes JPG and PNG files and writes one page per image, with a page size of A4 or Letter and a margin you choose. It does not resample, so the pixels you supply are the pixels in the file.

That is the route for a set of photographs that has to become one document. The image combining guide covers it in detail, including what a phone camera does to the file size.

When to keep the PDF

Anything somebody has to read, search, quote or fill in should stay a PDF. Converting a contract to images makes it unsearchable for everyone downstream, and it usually makes it larger as well.

Convert when the destination cannot take a PDF: a slide, a web page, a chat message, an image field in a form. The editing overview covers what else can be changed about a page without giving up its text. A page kept as a PDF also stays a fraction of the size that images of the same pages would come to, which matters once a document runs past a few sheets.

Questions people ask

Why is my exported JPG blurry when I zoom in?
The export is fixed pixels, so zooming past the resolution you chose has nothing left to show. Run it again at 300 instead of 150 when the image has to survive close inspection or a printer.
What resolution should I choose when converting a PDF to JPG?
Use 96 for a thumbnail, 150 for anything read on a screen or put in a slide, and 300 when the image will be printed. Higher resolutions multiply the file size for no gain on screen.
Should I export as JPG or PNG?
JPG for pages that are mostly photographs or scans, PNG for pages that are mostly text, diagrams or line art. PNG keeps hard edges exact, so small type stays legible.
Do I get one file per page?
Yes. A single page downloads as one image. Several pages come back as a zip with one file per page, numbered in page order so they sort correctly.
Can I still search the text after converting to JPG?
No. The page becomes a picture, so nothing in it can be selected, searched or read by a screen reader. Keep the PDF if anyone downstream has to read or quote it.

Where to go next