How to convert PDF to JPG images

Why convert a PDF to JPG?

• Post or share a page where PDFs aren’t accepted: social media, chat apps, website builders and many forms take images only.
• Insert a page into slides or a document as a picture.
• Make a preview or thumbnail of a report or brochure.
• Upload a certificate or ID page to a portal that asks for JPG.

JPEG (the format behind .jpg files) is the most widely supported image format in the world, readable by every phone, browser and app; the JPEG committee describes the standard at jpeg.org. That universal support is the main reason people convert.

Convert PDF to JPG online

1. Open PDF to JPG and drop in one or more PDFs, or tap Select PDF files. The files are processed by your browser, so they don’t need to be uploaded. Password-protected PDFs ask for the password, which is used on your device only.
2. Choose what to convert: Pages renders each page as an image; Images inside extracts the pictures embedded in the PDF.
3. Choose the pages: keep All, or pick Choose and tap the page previews or type ranges such as 1-3, 5.
4. Choose the quality: Standard · 150 ppi or High · 300 ppi.
5. Choose the format: JPG or PNG (for PNG you can also pick a transparent background).
6. Convert and download. Each image is checked as it’s made; with several images you can download them all as a ZIP.

Need PNG files by default? The PDF to PNG page opens with PNG selected.

Choosing the resolution

PDF pages are measured in physical units (inches or millimetres), not pixels. When a page is turned into an image, the resolution, in pixels per inch (ppi), decides how many pixels it gets. More pixels means sharper detail and a bigger file.

• Screens, email, messaging, most web uploads: 150 ppi. An A4 page at 1,240 pixels wide is sharp on phones and laptops.
• Printing, zooming into small text, archiving: 300 ppi, the usual standard for print-quality images.
• Very large pages (posters, technical drawings): at 300 ppi these can exceed what a browser can handle, so the converter scales them down to a safe size and tells you.

Higher resolution can’t add detail that isn’t in the PDF: a low-resolution scan stays blurry at 300 ppi, just with bigger pixels. Text and vector graphics are different: because they’re stored as shapes rather than pixels, they render cleanly at any resolution, so a text-only PDF converted at 300 ppi gives razor-sharp letters, and a 150 ppi version is still perfectly readable on screen.

JPG or PNG?

MDN’s image file type guide compares the formats in more depth. In short: if a page is mostly photos, JPG keeps the file small with no visible loss; if it’s mostly crisp text or line art, PNG avoids the faint blotches JPG can leave around letters. If you need a transparent background (for example, to place a logo or signature from a PDF onto something else), choose PNG with Transparent.

Extracting the images inside a PDF

Rendering pages gives you a picture of each whole page. Sometimes you want the original photos instead: product images in a catalogue, photos in a report. Choose Images inside and the converter looks through the PDF for embedded pictures and saves each at its own stored resolution, often sharper than a page render.

Two caveats: some PDFs draw pictures as vector graphics or split them into tiles, so there may be no separate image to extract (the converter tells you, and you can render pages instead). And images extracted from a PDF are someone’s content; check you have the right to reuse them.

Worked example: sharing a brochure page

You have a 6-page A4 brochure as a PDF and want to post page 3 on social media and send pages 1 and 6 to a printer as images.

1. Open the brochure in PDF to JPG, choose Pages and Choose, and tap page 3.
2. Pick Standard · 150 ppi and JPG. The result is a 1,240 × 1,754 pixel image, plenty for a phone screen and small enough to upload quickly.
3. Download it, then convert again: choose pages 1 and 6, High · 300 ppi, and PNG if the pages are mostly text and graphics. Each image is 2,480 × 3,508 pixels, the usual print resolution for A4.
4. Download both as a ZIP and send them to the printer, together with the original PDF in case they prefer it.

Many social platforms crop images to their own shapes, so check the preview before posting; a tall A4 page often shows best as a square crop of the most important part.

Colour, quality and background tips

• Colours can shift slightly. PDFs made for professional printing sometimes use print colour spaces (CMYK); converting to an on-screen image turns them into screen colours, which can look a little different. For print work, send the original PDF if the printer accepts it.
• White background by default. Pages without a background colour are filled with white in JPG, which has no transparency. Choose PNG with a transparent background when you need to place the page content over something else.
• Thin lines and small text look best at 300 ppi in PNG.
• Check one page first on a large PDF, then convert the rest with the same settings.

On a Mac with Preview

1. Open the PDF in Preview and go to the page you want.
2. Choose File → Export.
3. Set the format to JPEG (or PNG), choose the resolution and quality, and save.

Preview exports the page you’re viewing, so for several pages you repeat the steps, or select pages in the thumbnail sidebar and export each. For a whole document in one go, the online converter is quicker.

On Windows, Chromebook and phones

• Windows and Chromebook: there’s no built-in PDF-to-image export. A browser converter is the simplest route. Taking a screenshot of a page (Windows + Shift + S on Windows) works in a pinch, but the image is limited to your screen’s resolution.
• iPhone and iPad: a browser converter gives proper full-page images; a screenshot captures only what’s on screen.
• Android: the same applies: use a browser converter for full-quality results.

In the AI workspace you can also attach a PDF and ask “turn page 1 into a JPG”; the converter opens inside the chat with your file.

Making the images smaller

If an upload form has a size limit (for example “JPG under 200 KB”):

1. Convert at 150 ppi rather than 300.
2. Choose JPG rather than PNG for photos and scans.
3. If it’s still too big, use Compress image, which can aim for an exact size in KB, or Resize image to set exact pixel dimensions.

Some portals specify both a size and dimensions (say, 600 × 800 pixels); resizing first and compressing second usually gives the best quality for the limit.

Going the other way: images to PDF

To turn photos or scans back into a PDF, use JPG to PDF: it puts each image on its own page in the order you choose. To combine the result with other PDFs, see how to merge PDF files.

Common mistakes

• Using a screenshot when you need full resolution.
• Choosing 300 ppi for a quick upload and hitting a size limit.
• Saving text-heavy pages as JPG when PNG would be crisper.
• Deleting the PDF after converting; an image can’t be edited or searched as text.
• Expecting extra sharpness from a high ppi on a blurry scan.