How to convert a PDF to JPG without changing the size

When people ask to convert a PDF to JPG "without changing size," they usually mean one of two things. Either they want the picture to have the same shape as the page, or they want the file to stay small. This guide covers both, because the two pull against each other.

A PDF page has a physical size, like 8.5 by 11 inches, and no pixels. A JPG has pixels and no physical size. So a conversion has to choose how many pixels to draw, and that choice is the DPI. Once you see how that works, you can get the picture you want on the first try.

How the size is decided

PDF pages are measured in points, and there are 72 points in an inch. PDF to JPG draws each page at the DPI you pick, so the pixel size is the page size in inches multiplied by the DPI. That gives you a worked table for a US Letter page, which is 8.5 by 11 inches:

• Normal (150 DPI): about 1275 by 1650 pixels. Good for screens, chat messages and slides.
• High (300 DPI): about 2550 by 3300 pixels. Better for printing, but the file is bigger and a long document takes longer.

The shape never changes. A portrait page stays portrait, a wide page stays wide, and a page with an odd size keeps its odd size, because the pixel count is scaled from the real page size. Nothing is cropped or stretched.

Convert the pages in four steps

1. Open PDF to JPG and add your PDF. It is drawn in your browser, so the document stays on your device.
2. Pick the pages you want. You do not have to convert the whole file.
3. Choose Normal (150 DPI) for screens, or High (300 DPI) if you will print the image.
4. Download the zip file. It has one JPG per page, or just one image if you picked a single page.

What stays the same and what does not

The page shape, the layout and the look at normal zoom all stay. Three things do change, and it helps to know them before you send the image to someone.

• The text is no longer text. A JPG holds a picture of the words, so you cannot select, copy or search them. Keep the PDF if you still need that.
• The background is white. Pages are drawn on a white background, so a page with a see-through area comes out white behind it.
• JPG is lossy. Photos and gradients look fine, but small text can look slightly soft next to the PDF, especially at 150 DPI.

Keeping the file size down

If "size" means megabytes, the DPI is your main control. A 300 DPI page has four times the pixels of a 150 DPI page, so the file is much heavier. Use Normal when the image only needs to be seen on a screen.

Very large pages are scaled down to stay workable. The longest side is capped at 10,000 pixels, so a poster or a big drawing may come out smaller than the DPI math suggests. If you need the full detail of a huge page, split the job into parts first with Split PDF or Extract Pages from PDF.

When PNG is the better choice

JPG is best for pages with photos. For pages with small text, tables or line drawings, PNG keeps hard edges clean, at the cost of a bigger file. PDF to PNG uses the same steps. Our guide on converting a PDF to PNG without losing quality goes deeper on that choice.

Common mistakes

• Choosing High for every page. The images get four times as heavy, and a screen will not show the extra detail.
• Expecting the text to stay selectable. A picture of a page has no text inside it, so searching the image finds nothing.
• Converting a page that is already a picture. A scanned PDF is made of pixels already, so converting it cannot add detail the scan never had.
• Forgetting to pick pages. Converting a 40-page file when you needed one page leaves you with 40 images to delete.

Most of these are fixed by a quick look at the first image and a second run with different settings. Your original PDF is never changed, so trying again costs nothing.

A worked example

A landlord has a one-page notice that must go in a text message to a tenant. She opens PDF to JPG, picks the one page, chooses Normal (150 DPI), and gets a single image about 1275 by 1650 pixels. It is sharp enough to read on a phone and small enough to send. She keeps the PDF for her records.

Quick checks before you share

• Open the first image and zoom in on the smallest text. If you cannot read it, convert again at High.
• Check that the page count matches what you picked.
• Rename the images if they include private details in the file name.

Free files can be up to 50 MB, and your 2 free uses in total need no account. If you only need one page out of a long file, Extract Pages from PDF makes a small PDF first.

Need the pictures inside a PDF rather than a picture of each page? See how to extract images from a PDF.