Convert PDF to images

When a picture of a page is what you need

• Slides and social posts: a chart, a page of a report or a certificate shared where only pictures are accepted.
• Previews and thumbnails of documents on a website.
• Fixed appearance: a picture looks the same everywhere, with no missing fonts or reader differences.
• Editing in an image program: annotating, cropping or retouching one page.

The pages are drawn by PDF.js, the PDF engine of Firefox, at the resolution you choose, onto a white background so transparent areas never turn black in other programs.

PNG, JPG or WebP

This page starts with PNG, which keeps text and lines perfectly sharp. The best format depends on what is on the page; for the first page of three documents at 150 DPI we measured:

For text, diagrams and slides, PNG is as small as JPG and sharper, so keep it. For pages with photos and for scans, JPG is three to five times smaller; PDF to JPG starts with JPG selected. WebP is the smallest of the three, for pictures that will be shown on a website.

Choosing the resolution

The picture has as many pixels as the page width in inches times the DPI. The converter shows the size of a US Letter page under the slider as you move it: 1,700 by 2,200 pixels at the default 200 DPI. Use 72 to 100 DPI for thumbnails, 150 for screens and slides, 200 for sharp reading on tablets, 300 for printing or for text recognition, and 600 only for fine print or archiving, since every doubling makes four times as many pixels.

Many pages, many files

Each page becomes its own picture, named after the file and the page number with leading zeros, such as report-page-04.png, so they stay in order in any folder. Several pages download together as a ZIP. Leave the page box empty for all pages, or type ranges to pick a few. To go the other way and build a PDF from pictures, use image to PDF.

If something goes wrong

• It says the page is larger than the browser can render. Lower the DPI; posters and technical drawings may need 150 or less.
• Fonts look different from the PDF reader. The PDF does not embed its fonts, so a similar font is used. This is rare in PDFs made by modern programs.
• It says the PDF is password protected. Unlock it first with unlock PDF, if you have the right to.