Should you convert a PDF to JPG or PNG?
By the PdfDady team · Updated · 7 min read
Choose JPG when the file has to be small or the page is mostly a photo. Choose PNG when the page is text, a table, a diagram or a screenshot and you want it to stay sharp. If an upload form names a format, that settles it: use what the form asks for.
Our PDF to JPG tool does both. JPG is the default, PNG is one tap away, and you pick the pages and the resolution. The conversion runs in your browser, so the PDF is not uploaded.
The real difference between the two
JPG is lossy. To make the file small, it discards detail the eye is unlikely to miss. On a photograph this works very well. On black text against white paper it is less kind: look closely and you may see a faint grey smudge around letters and thin lines.
PNG is lossless. The W3C specification describes it as a format for lossless storage of raster images, which means every pixel comes back exactly as it went in. Sharp edges stay sharp. The cost is size. A PNG of a page full of photos can be many times larger than the JPG.
Neither format stores text as text. Once a PDF page becomes an image, the words in it are pixels. You can't select or search them, whichever format you pick.
| JPG | PNG | |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossy, small files | Lossless, larger files |
| Text and thin lines | Slight blur at the edges | Crisp |
| Photos | Very good | Good, but heavy |
| File size for a scanned photo page | Smaller | Much larger |
| Accepted by upload forms | Almost everywhere images are accepted | Often, but check |
Which to pick for which job
Uploading to a form with a KB limit: JPG. It is smaller to begin with, and many application forms ask for JPG or JPEG by name. Read the form's notice, because a field that says JPG may refuse a PNG outright.
Sharing a page on WhatsApp or in a chat: JPG at 150 DPI is plenty for reading on a phone.
Putting a page into a presentation or a Word document: PNG. Slides get projected and zoomed, and soft text looks poor on a big screen.
Diagrams, charts, circuit drawings, maps with fine lines: PNG.
A page that is one big photograph, or a colour scan: JPG. PNG gains you little here and the file balloons.
Printing: either, at 300 DPI. Prefer PNG for text-heavy pages.
A screenshot of a certificate or a statement for your own records: PNG if size doesn't matter, JPG if it does.
In our tool, JPGs are saved at 90% quality. That is high enough that most people will not notice the difference from PNG on an ordinary page without zooming in. So when you can't decide, JPG is the safer default and PNG is the choice when you already know sharpness matters.
Choosing the DPI
DPI (dots per inch) decides how many pixels the image has. A PDF page has a physical size, and the DPI you choose sets how many pixels are drawn for each inch of it. For an A4 page (210 × 297 mm):
| DPI | A4 page in pixels | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| 72 | About 595 × 842 | Thumbnails, quick previews, the smallest files |
| 150 | About 1,240 × 1,754 | Reading on screen, sharing, most uploads |
| 300 | About 2,480 × 3,508 | Printing, zooming into small text |
150 DPI is the default and suits most uses. Going from 150 to 300 DPI doubles the width and the height, which is four times the pixels and a much bigger file. Use 300 when you need it, not out of habit.
One limit to know: a very large page is reduced so that no image goes beyond about 16.7 megapixels, and the tool shows the DPI it used. An A4 page at 300 DPI is around 8.7 megapixels, well inside that. An A3 page at 300 DPI is just over it, so it comes out at slightly less than 300.
Higher DPI does not add detail that isn't in the PDF. If the PDF is a blurry scan, a 300 DPI image of it is a bigger blurry scan. Our guide to getting high-resolution images from a PDF goes into this.
How to convert, step by step
- Open PDF to JPG and add your PDF (one file, up to 100 MB). If it has a password, the tool asks for it and uses it only in your browser.
- Keep all pages, or tap the thumbnails of the ones you want.
- Pick JPG or PNG, and 72, 150 or 300 DPI.
- Press Convert.
One selected page downloads as a single image. Several pages come as a ZIP, with files named page-1.jpg, page-2.jpg and so on (or .png). On a phone, open the ZIP in your Files app to get at the images.
If you only ever want PNG, the PDF to PNG page is the same converter with PNG already selected.
Things that surprise people
The PNG has a white background, not a transparent one. Pages are drawn the way a PDF viewer shows them, on white. If you hoped to lift a logo with a see-through background, converting the page won't do it.
You get the whole page, not the pictures in it. Converting renders the full page, margins and text included. To pull out a photo that sits inside a PDF at its original quality, use Extract images from PDF instead.
The JPG is still too big for the form. A full page at 150 DPI can easily exceed a small KB limit. Convert at 72 or 150 DPI, then bring it down to the limit with the Image Resizer, which can aim for a maximum size in KB. Check the result is still readable.
A page looks slightly different from your PDF app. Pages are drawn by the PDF.js engine in your browser. Rare differences from other viewers are possible, usually with unusual fonts. Glance over the images before you send them.
The image is huge in MB. That is 300 DPI PNG doing what it does. Drop to 150 DPI or switch to JPG.
Do you need an image at all?
Sometimes the better answer is to keep the PDF. If the goal is a smaller file for an upload that accepts PDF, compressing the PDF keeps it as one multi-page document. Turning ten pages into ten images makes them harder to send and easier to mix up. Our comparison of PDF vs JPG for documents covers when each format is the right thing to send.
Convert to an image when the destination only accepts images, when you need one page as a picture in a slide or a chat, or when you want to post a page somewhere that doesn't show PDFs.
Questions people ask
Is JPG the same as JPEG?
Yes. They are two spellings of the same format. A form that asks for JPEG will take a .jpg file.
Which gives better quality, JPG or PNG?
PNG keeps every pixel exactly, so text and lines are sharper. For photographs the difference is hard to see, and JPG is far smaller.
Can I convert just one page of a PDF to an image?
Yes. Tap only that page and you get a single image, not a ZIP.
Will the text in the image be selectable?
No. An image holds pixels, not text. If you need the words, see how to copy text from a PDF.
Does the tool upload my PDF?
No. The pages are turned into images in your browser and the file stays on your device.