How to convert a PDF to JPG
- Drop your PDF on the box or click it to browse. A locked file asks for its PDF password first.
- Type the pages you want into Pages, such as
1-3, 5, or leave it empty for all of them. - Choose the Resolution and the JPG quality. The line under them shows the pixel size each image will have.
- Click Convert pages. Each image appears as it finishes. Save one with its Download link, or press Download all as ZIP.
How the size is worked out
A PDF page is measured in points, and one point is 1/72 of an inch, so a US Letter page is 612 x 792 points (8.5 x 11 in). Each page is drawn on a canvas at points / 72 x DPI pixels, filled with white because JPG has no transparency, and encoded at your chosen quality. The drawing is done by PDF.js, the reader built into Firefox. Higher DPI means more pixels and bigger files, and quality trades file size against fine detail. If a page would need more than about 16.7 million pixels, which some browsers cannot draw, it is rendered at a lower DPI and the message says so.
Worked example
Click Try a sample PDF. The tool reports Loaded sample.pdf: 2 pages, page 1 is 8.5 x 11 in. With the defaults (empty Pages, 150 DPI, 85%) each page is 612 / 72 x 150 = 1275 by 792 / 72 x 150 = 1650 pixels. Click Convert pages and two images, sample-page-1.jpg and sample-page-2.jpg, appear, each 1275 x 1650 px and roughly 40 KB. Switch to 300 DPI and the same pages come out at 2550 x 3300 px.
Limits and edge cases
- JPG compresses photos well but can blur thin text. For crisp text and line art, use PDF to PNG.
- Form fields and comments are drawn the way they look on screen, using their saved appearance. A field that has no saved appearance can come out blank.
- Very large PDFs are limited by your device memory. Convert a page range at a time if the tab slows down.
- Press Stop to end early. Pages already done stay available.
- To pull out only the pictures inside a PDF, not whole pages, use the PDF Image Extractor.
Frequently asked questions
What DPI should I choose when converting a PDF to JPG?
150 DPI is the default and looks sharp on screens and in email. Use 72 DPI for small web thumbnails, 200 DPI for slides or pages with fine print, and 300 DPI for printing. The image size in pixels is the page size in inches times the DPI, so a US Letter page is 1275 x 1650 px at 150 DPI and 2550 x 3300 px at 300 DPI.
Can I convert only some pages of a PDF to JPG?
Yes. Type the pages you want in the Pages box, for example 1-3, 5 or 8-10. Leave it empty to convert every page. Pages are converted in order and each one is saved as its own JPG.
Can I convert a password-protected PDF to JPG?
Yes, if you know the password. When the file is locked, a password box appears, and the password is used only inside your browser. You can also save an unlocked copy first with the PDF Password Remover.
Why is there a white background, and can I get a transparent one?
The JPG format cannot store transparency, so every page is drawn on white. If you need transparent areas, convert to PNG instead with the PDF to PNG tool.
A JPG that came out too large can be shrunk with the Image Compressor, and a locked file can be opened for good with the PDF Password Remover.
Sources: PDF.js, Mozilla; The desktop publishing point, 1/72 inch (Wikipedia); Dots per inch (Wikipedia); JPEG (Wikipedia).