PNG is lossless and right for text, diagrams and anything with hard edges. JPG is smaller and right for photographic pages. Quality sets the render scale: Small is 1x (about 72 dpi), Balanced is 1.5x (about 110 dpi), Sharp is 2.5x (about 180 dpi).
Every page becomes one file, named page-1, page-2 and so on, inside a ZIP. Text and vector content render sharply at any scale; a scanned page cannot be rendered sharper than the scan.
Slides need a page as a picture. A portal only accepts JPG. A messaging app previews images inline but hides PDFs behind a download. A design reference folder wants one file per page. In each case the job is the same: draw the page to a bitmap at a sensible size and save it in the right format. The decisions are the format and the size, and both are easier once you know what the page is made of.
How to convert a PDF to images
Add the PDF
Drop it or browse. The file is read into memory; nothing is uploaded.
Pick PNG or JPG
PNG for text and line art, JPG for photographs. When unsure, PNG, then switch if the ZIP is too large to send.
Pick a quality
Small for previews and thumbnails, Balanced for screens, Sharp for printing or zooming in.
Press Export images and download the ZIP
Each page is rendered with PDF.js, the same engine Firefox uses, and encoded in the browser. Unzip with the tool built into every OS and phone.
PNG or JPG
Lossless, exact
- Text stays crisp at every edge
- Diagrams, tables, logos and screenshots
- Transparent backgrounds are preserved
- Larger files, especially for photographs
- The safe default when you are not sure
Lossy, compact
- Photographic pages at a fraction of the size
- Scanned documents where the scan is already a photo
- Sharing on messaging apps and social platforms
- Faint artefacts around sharp text if you look closely
- Pick when the ZIP is too large to send
A page that mixes both, a report with a photo and a paragraph, is fine as either. PNG keeps the paragraph perfect and the photo large; JPG keeps the photo small and the paragraph very slightly soft. For screens, most people never see the difference. For print, PNG.
What the quality settings mean
A PDF measures its pages in points, 72 to the inch, and that is the base scale. The quality setting multiplies it. Nothing else changes: the same page content is drawn into a larger or smaller grid of pixels.
- Small, 1x, about 72 dpiThumbnails, web previews
- Balanced, 1.5x, about 110 dpiSlides, screens, email
- Sharp, 2.5x, about 180 dpiHome printing, zooming, archives
Sharp on a Retina display, about 300 KB as a JPG of a text page.
Prints cleanly at letter size on an inkjet or laser.
Versus roughly 6 MB at Balanced. Scale costs pixels squared.
If the images are going to print
On screen, pixel count decides sharpness. On paper, what matters is pixels per printed inch. Sharp gives about 180 dpi at the page's own size, which prints acceptably on home and office printers and is fine for most handouts. A print shop asking for 300 dpi at full size wants more than this tool produces; in that case send them the PDF itself, which prints at the printer's native resolution, rather than an image of it.
- Handouts and internal decks. Sharp, PNG for text-heavy pages, JPG for photo pages.
- Client deliverables and posters. Send the PDF. Rendering it to an image can only lose information.
- Web and email. Balanced. Anything larger is wasted bandwidth on a screen.
Common reasons to export
- Slides in PowerPoint, Keynote or Google SlidesBalanced or Sharp, PNG
- A portal that only accepts JPG or PNGBalanced, JPG
- WhatsApp, Slack, social previewsBalanced, JPG
- A design reference librarySharp, PNG
- Feeding pages to an image-based OCRSharp, PNG
For a handful of pages out of a long document, split the range first and export only that. The tool renders every page it is given, and a 300-page book at Sharp is a large ZIP nobody needs. The reverse direction, images back into a PDF, is Images to PDF.
Why the rendering happens in your browser
Rendering a PDF to images means drawing every page in full. On a server, that is a copy of every page on someone else's machine, for a task a browser can do as well as any cloud. Statements, contracts and personal records are the documents people most often need as images, for portals and messaging apps, and they are the ones that should never be uploaded to get there.
The tool is right above
Everything on this page runs in your browser. Scroll up, drop the file, and keep it on your machine.
Common questions
What people ask with the format buttons in front of them.
01PNG or JPG: which should I pick?
PNG for pages with text, diagrams or hard edges, because it is lossless. JPG for photographic pages where a smaller file matters more than perfect edges. When unsure, PNG.
02What do 72, 150 and 300 dpi mean?
The render scale. 72 dpi is the page at screen size, the smallest files. 150 dpi is crisp on any screen and fine for a desk printer. 300 dpi is print quality and produces large files; a Letter page is about 2550 by 3300 pixels.
03How many pages can I export at once?
A few hundred pages at 300 dpi, more at 150, before browser memory becomes the limit; use a page range for a section of a long file. For a section of a long document, split the range out first and export that.
04Can I export just a few pages?
Not from within this tool. Use Split PDF to keep the pages you want, then export those.
05Can I get one long image instead of one per page?
No. Each page becomes its own file. Stitch them in an image editor if you need a single strip.
06Why do my scanned pages look no sharper at 300 dpi?
Because a scan is a photograph inside the PDF and cannot be rendered above its own resolution. A higher setting enlarges it without adding detail. For a scan, choose Embedded images instead: it hands you the original scan pixels at their native resolution.
07Can I export a password-protected PDF?
Not while it is encrypted. Remove the password from a file you own with the Unlock tool first, then export.
08Is it free?
Free. Every tool, unlimited use, no signup.