How to convert a PDF file to JPG

Many friends write to me asking if I know of any programs, possibly free, to transform a PDF file into JPG . In reality I have already dealt with this topic in the past, and even more than once, but since there are fortunately no shortage of solutions and requests in this sense are still many, here I am again ready to talk to you about it. No problem.

If you agree, I wouldn’t do too many preambles and get straight to the point. Below you will find a couple of very valid applications for Windows and Mac OS X that allow you to convert PDF pages into JPG images and a Web service, compatible with all major Web browsers, which allows you to obtain the same result without downloading additional software on the computer.

The solutions in question are all 100% free and ensure the creation of images of the highest quality. As for how they work, they are so intuitive that there is no need to explain how to use them. In any case – do not worry – if you need them, below you will find everything you need to know to make the most of their potential. Good fun!

Convert PDF to JPG on Windows

If you are using a Windows PC and want to turn your PDFs into images, I advise you not to waste too much time installing new programs and trying PDF-XChange Viewer . It is a completely free PDF file reader, which works without the need for installation and includes a handy feature to export PDF pages as JPG images.

To try it, connected to its official website, put the check mark next to Portable version (ZIP) located in the right sidebar and click on the Download now button . Therefore, wait for the zip archive containing the program to be downloaded to your PC, open it, extract the contents in a folder of your choice and start the PDFXCview.exe executable .

At this point, click on the Open button , choose the PDF to be transformed into JPG and go to the File menu > Export> Export as PDF-XChange Viewer image. In the window that opens, set the JPEG – Joint Graphic Experts Group option in the Image Type drop-down menu , click on the Browse button , choose the folder in which to save the images and press the Export button to start converting the document.

If you want to convert only a specific range of pages to JPG and not the entire document, put the check mark next to the item Pages and type the numbers of the pages to be transformed into images in the adjacent text field.

Convert PDF to JPG on Mac

If you use a Mac you can create a program to transform a PDF file into JPG directly with your hands. But no, don’t worry, I’m not inviting you to become a professional programmer.

I want to explain much more simply how to create an app for converting PDF files to images with Automator , a utility included in all versions of OS X that allows you to automate many different operations thanks to a series of “prepackaged” scripts.

To better understand what I’m talking about, open Automator from the Launchpad’s Other folder and choose to create a new Application . Then select the voice library from the left sidebar and double-click the following items: Show Finder Items (Ask for Finder items), Transforms PDF pages into images (PDF to images) and Move Finder Items (Move Finder items).

At this point, go to the File> Save Automator menu , select a folder in which to save your application and that’s it. Once you have the app, start it, select the PDF to be transformed into JPG and wait for – almost as if by magic – all the pages of the document you have chosen to appear in the form of images on the Mac desktop.

If you are interested in extracting images from PDFs rather than converting their pages to images, I invite you to try PDF Toolkit + , a small all-rounder application for editing and converting PDFs that costs just $ 1.99.

Convert PDF to JPG online

As mentioned in the initial part of this guide, it is also possible to convert PDF files through convenient online services that allow you to do everything from the browser. A name above all? iLovePDF which is completely free and works without the need for additional plugins.

The service does not require registration, is able to convert documents up to 200MB large and also allows you to extrapolate the images contained in PDFs (instead of converting the pages in full). Another very important aspect that is worth underlining concerns privacy: the site protects the privacy of users by automatically deleting all the files that are uploaded to its servers within a few hours.

So, are you ready to try this iLovePDF? Well, then connect to its home page and drag the PDF document to be transformed into JPG into the browser window. Then choose whether to convert the pages to JPG or extract images from the document by clicking on one of the two buttons that appear on the screen and click on the Convert to JPG item to start downloading the images on your PC.