How to convert a PDF to JPG (one page or all of them)

When does it make sense to save a PDF as a JPG?

A PDF keeps text as text. A JPG is a flat picture. Once you convert, nobody can select, search or copy the words, and zooming in shows pixels instead of sharp letters. So converting makes sense when you need a picture, not a document.

If what you really want is a smaller PDF, converting to JPG is the wrong tool. Use Compress PDF instead and keep the text selectable.

• Posting a page on Instagram, a website or a slide, where PDFs do not display inline.
• Attaching a page to a form or a chat app that accepts images only.
• Putting a page preview, a cover or a diagram into a Word document or an email body.
• Sending a page to someone whose device struggles with PDFs.

How to convert a PDF to JPG online

An online converter works on a phone, a Chromebook, Windows or a Mac and handles every page in one go. DocGopher's PDF to JPG saves each page as a light, sharp JPG. It is free, needs no account, adds no watermark, and accepts files up to 300 MB. Files are processed in memory and deleted after 30 minutes.

If you need lossless images for diagrams or screenshots, use PDF to PNG instead. Both are the same PDF to Image converter with a different output format.

1. Open PDF to JPG.
2. Drop your PDF on the page or select it from your files.
3. Wait for the pages to be rendered. A short document takes a few seconds, a 200-page book somewhat longer.
4. Download the result. One page gives you a single JPG. Several pages come as a set of numbered images, so page 7 is easy to find.

One page or all pages?

Most converters, DocGopher included, render every page. That is right for a scanned contract you want as images, but a waste when you only need the chart on page 12 of a report.

To get a single page, pull it out first. Extract pages keeps only the pages you want, in any order, so you can type 12 and get a one-page PDF. Convert that to JPG and you have one image instead of a folder of them. On a Mac, Preview exports only the page that is selected in the sidebar, which solves the problem for a page or two.

If you need a handful of specific pages, extract them with a range such as 3, 7, 10-12 and convert the result in one pass.

Which resolution or DPI should you choose?

Resolution decides how many pixels the image has, and therefore how sharp it looks and how large the file is. It is measured in DPI, dots per inch, relative to the page size. A US Letter page is 8.5 by 11 inches, so the arithmetic is simple.

Higher is not always better. A 300 DPI JPG of a text page is usually 1 to 3 MB, and a social network or a form upload will compress it again anyway. For anything that lives on a screen, 150 DPI is the sensible default. If your converter has no DPI setting, check the pixel size of the output and compare it with the numbers below.

• 72 DPI: 612 by 792 pixels. Fine as a thumbnail or a tiny preview. Text is blurry.
• 150 DPI: 1275 by 1650 pixels. Good for screens, email and most websites. Body text is readable.
• 200 DPI: 1700 by 2200 pixels. Comfortable reading on a large monitor and the typical quality of an office scan.
• 300 DPI: 2550 by 3300 pixels. Print quality. Use it when the image will be printed or when small text must stay crisp.

How to save a PDF as a JPEG with Preview on a Mac

Every Mac can do this without extra software. Preview exports the page that is currently selected.

Repeat for each page you need. For a whole document this gets tedious, so for more than a few pages use an online converter, or the Render PDF Pages as Images action in Automator if you are comfortable with it.

1. Open the PDF in Preview. Double-clicking the file is usually enough.
2. Show the sidebar with View, Thumbnails, and click the page you want.
3. Choose File, Export. If you only see Export as PDF, use File, Export and change the format in the dialog.
4. Set Format to JPEG. Move the Quality slider, and type a Resolution such as 150 or 300 pixels per inch.
5. Pick a folder and click Save.

Windows: a screenshot or a real export?

Windows has no built-in PDF to JPG export. Edge and Acrobat Reader open PDFs, but their Save and Print menus produce PDFs, not images. That leaves two options: a converter, or a screenshot.

A screenshot is fine for a quick share. Press Windows, Shift and S to open the Snipping Tool, drag over the page, and paste or save the result. The catch is resolution. A screenshot has the pixels of your screen, so a full page captured on a laptop is around 1000 pixels tall, roughly 90 DPI. Zoom in before capturing and you get more pixels, but then the whole page no longer fits.

A real export renders the PDF at the resolution you ask for, regardless of the screen, and keeps the exact page edges with no toolbar or cursor in the shot. For anything you will print, forward officially or crop later, export rather than screenshot. The same holds on a Mac and on a phone.

PNG or JPG for text?

JPG was designed for photographs. It saves space by smoothing fine detail, which shows up as fuzzy halos around letters and thin lines at low quality settings. PNG is lossless. Every pixel is stored exactly, so text and diagrams stay crisp, but files are larger for photos.

If you exported as PNG and the file is too large, Compress PNG makes it lighter while keeping the transparency. A PNG to JPG converter takes care of sites that insist on JPG.

• Text pages, forms, charts, line drawings, screenshots: PNG, or JPG at a high quality setting.
• Scanned photos, magazine pages, posters with gradients: JPG. The file is far smaller and the loss is invisible.
• Transparency, such as a logo page with no background: PNG. JPG has no transparency and fills it with white.
• Uploading to a site that accepts only JPG: JPG at a quality of 85 or higher, which keeps text readable.

Going the other way: JPG back to PDF

Sometimes you end up with images and need a document again, for example scans that arrived as photos or a set of exported pages you want to send as one file. JPG to PDF turns one or many JPG photos into a single PDF, in the order you choose. On a Mac, select the images in Finder, right-click, and use Quick Actions, Create PDF. On Windows, select the images, right-click, choose Print, and pick Microsoft Print to PDF as the printer.

Keep in mind that a PDF made from JPGs is still pictures inside a PDF. The text is not searchable until you run the file through an OCR tool.