How do I turn a PDF page into an image?
Short answer:Render the page at a resolution you choose, then save the pixels as a JPG or PNG. A PDF page is sized in inches and has no fixed pixel size, so “rendering” means deciding how many pixels to give each inch: 150 DPI for screens, 300 for print, 600 for detail you intend to enlarge. Once rendered, the page is a normal image you can save, share or paste anywhere.
Why a PDF page is not already an image
A PDF does not store pages as pictures. It stores instructions: text in named fonts, shapes, and images, each placed at a position and size in inches. A reader draws those instructions to fit whatever it has, which is why the same PDF looks sharp on a phone and on a wall-sized display, and why it prints cleanly at any size.
Turning a page into an image collapses all of that into a grid of pixels at one fixed size. The instructions are rasterised, or filled in, at the resolution you ask for. Below the detail in the page the result looks soft; well above it, the extra pixels cost file size without adding anything visible.
Choosing a resolution
Measured in dots per inch, the resolution decides both sharpness and size. 150 DPI is the everyday choice for screens and sharing. 300 DPI is the print standard and makes a page look right when printed at its true size. 600 DPI is for artwork, small type and plans people may zoom into, and because doubling the DPI quadruples the pixel count, those files get large quickly.
If you only need the picture already inside the PDF, for example a photo placed in a document, copying it out at its stored size is better than a picture of the page: it is the original image, with no re-encoding and no resolution to guess at.
Doing it without uploading
A browser can render a PDF page itself, with the same PDF engine a reader uses, and hand back an image. That means the document never has to leave your device. The tool on this site does exactly that: it renders the pages you choose and saves them as JPGs, and it can also extract the images embedded in the file.
More questions
Is a JPG or a PNG better for a PDF page?
JPG for pages, photos and smooth tones, because it stays small and the small losses are hard to see. PNG if you need lossless quality or a transparent background, though the file will be several times larger for the same page.
How many pixels is an A4 page at 300 DPI?
About 2480 by 3500 pixels, because A4 is roughly 8.3 by 11.7 inches. At 150 DPI it is about 1240 by 1750 pixels, and at 600 DPI about 4960 by 7000, which is where file sizes start to bite.
Can I get just the photos out of a PDF?
Yes. Photographs in a PDF are stored as whole images, and the extract mode copies them out at their original size without re-encoding, rather than taking a picture of the page they sat on. That is the better choice for photo albums and scans.