Have you got a PDF that needs to be a JPG, for a post, a slide or a message, and every site that offers it wants you to upload the document first?
You do not have to upload anything. Windows, macOS and both phone systems can turn a PDF page into a JPG with what is already installed, and the built in routes are usually faster than any website.
Whether you searched for save pdf as jpg or for exporting a page as a picture, it is the same job. Which route suits you depends on what you are doing with it:
- One page, quickly: screenshot it, which nobody thinks of first
- One page at proper quality: print it to an image, or export it
- Every page as separate pictures: the export route
- On a phone: share, then save to photos
Before you start, check how many pages you need out of it, because one page and forty pages are two different jobs.
In this article you will learn all four, what actually decides the quality of the result, and when JPG is the wrong format to ask for.
So let’s get started.
1) The quickest way: capture the page
If the picture is for a message, a slide or a quick note, this takes ten seconds.
Open the PDF, zoom so the page fills the screen, and use Snipping Tool on Windows, with Windows and Shift and S, or Command and Shift and 4 on a Mac. Then save the capture as a JPG.
This will not help if the result has to be printed: the picture is only as sharp as your screen was, so it is fine for the web and not for paper. Zoom in before you capture and it improves noticeably.
2) The proper way on Windows: print to an image
Windows has no built in PDF to JPG printer, and it does have one for PNG through the Photos app, which is why the honest route here is a two step.
Open the PDF in Microsoft Edge, press Ctrl and P, and choose Microsoft Print to PDF for the page you want, which gives you a one page file. Then open that in the Photos app and use Save as, choosing JPG.
If you do this often, I recommend a proper PDF reader, which gives you an export to image in one step. For once or twice a year, the two step route saves installing anything, and it does not work at all if the Photos app has been removed from the machine.
3) On a Mac, Preview does it properly
This is the cleanest route on any system, and it is already installed.
Open the PDF in Preview, choose the page in the sidebar, then File, Export, and pick JPEG. Set the quality slider and, importantly, the resolution: 150 dpi for a screen, 300 dpi if it will be printed.
For every page at once, open File, then Export as Images. Preview then writes one file per page, numbered in order.
4) On a phone
On an iPhone, open the PDF, tap the share button, choose Print, then pinch outwards on the preview page, which turns it into a picture. Now share that and choose Save Image.
On Android, open the PDF in Google Drive or your reader, and take a screenshot, or use the reader’s own share as image if it has one. Drive itself does not export a page as a picture, which is worth knowing before hunting through the menus.
What actually decides the quality
Two things, and neither is the tool you used.
The resolution you export at, measured in dpi, decides how many pixels the page becomes. 72 to 150 is fine on screen, 300 is what a printer wants, and our page on what DPI means has the one sum that turns a print size into a pixel width.
And the JPG quality setting, which throws detail away to make the file smaller. For a page of text, that shows up as fuzzy letters far sooner than it does on a photo.
When JPG is the wrong answer
If the page is mostly text, lines or a diagram, PNG keeps it sharp and is often a smaller file than a JPG of the same page. JPG smears hard edges, which is exactly what text is made of.
So ask for PNG unless somebody has specifically asked for a JPG. Our page on JPG vs PNG sets out the trade in more detail.
And if what you really need is the PDF made smaller rather than turned into a picture, our PDF compressor does that in your browser without uploading the file anywhere.
FAQ(Saving a PDF as JPG)
Can I save every page of a PDF as a separate JPG?
Yes, with Export as Images in Preview on a Mac, or a reader’s export on Windows. Doing it page by page is only sensible for a handful of pages.
Does saving as JPG lose quality?
Yes, a little, because JPG is lossy. It is invisible on a photo page and visible on text, which is why PNG is usually the better choice for documents.
Is there a way without any website or software?
Yes, that is what the first three sections are. Screenshotting, printing to a file and exporting in Preview all use what is already on your computer.
Why is my JPG blurry?
Either you captured the screen at a low zoom, or you exported at a low dpi. Zoom in first, or set 300 dpi when exporting.
Are the online converters safe?
They work, and your document goes to somebody else’s server, which matters for anything private. Prefer the built in routes for contracts, statements and anything with personal details on it.
If you have any issues, you can ask me via comment, and I will love to help you out.
