pdfviz

Best free PDF to JPG converter

Exporting a PDF page as a picture is a rendering job, and one setting decides the result: resolution. Most free tools give you named presets and no number. This page ranks by whether you can state the resolution you need, and covers the JPG against PNG choice that matters just as much.

Rank by resolution control

Low, medium and high are not resolutions. If you need images for print you need 300 dots per inch; for a slide or a web page 150 is usually right; for a thumbnail 96 is plenty. A preset hides which of those you got and makes the result impossible to repeat.

The pdfviz exporter takes those three values exactly, writes JPG or lossless PNG, names each file page-001 onward, and zips the set when there is more than one page. It runs in the tab and uploads nothing.

What the free suites give you

iLovePDF converts pages to JPG on its servers; its free tier is described as essential tools with limited document processing and publishes no number, checked 10 September 2026. PDF Candy applies page and hourly restrictions on its free tier with no batch processing. Adobe pairs its online converter with a 7-day Pro trial pitch, checked 10 September 2026.

PDF24 states it is free without artificial limits, funded by advertising, and also processes on its servers. All three are fine for a page or two, as is CleverPDF, which describes forty four permanently free online tools. None of them lets you name the resolution as a number. Smallpdf deletes uploads an hour after processing and FreePDFConvert after three hours, both checked 10 September 2026, and both promise high resolution without a number. Wondershare answers with a Try It Free desktop download that converts batches on the machine.

JPG or PNG

Choose JPG when the page is mostly photographs or scans: the file is far smaller and the compression artefacts hide in the noise. Choose PNG when the page is text, diagrams, tables or line art, because JPG smears sharp edges and thin rules.

The mistake that costs most is exporting a text page to JPG at a low resolution. The letters acquire grey halos and cannot be recovered, and no later step fixes it. Re-export from the PDF instead, which costs nothing.

The page limit that surprises people

Rendering happens in memory and a page is rendered as one bitmap. The pdfviz exporter caps a page at forty million pixels, which is a large A4 page at 300 dots per inch with room to spare, and it refuses the render rather than producing a corrupt image.

If you hit that, drop to 150 dots per inch, or crop the page first with rotate and crop. Very large format pages, posters and plans are the usual cause, not ordinary documents.

What you lose, and when it matters

An image of a page has no selectable text. Nobody can search it, copy from it or read it with a screen reader. That is correct for a thumbnail or a slide and wrong for anything someone has to work with.

If the reason for exporting was file size, do not export at all. Set a size target instead and keep the text: the tool reopens every candidate and counts its characters against the source before it offers a download. The export guide has the full sequence.

Questions people ask

Which PDF to JPG converter is actually free?
The browser tools on this page convert with no trial clock: pdfviz, Smallpdf and FreePDFConvert. When a vendor page leads with Try It Free or a 7-day trial, as Adobe and Wondershare do, the full tool needs paying after the trial.
Do I need to install software to convert a PDF to JPG?
No for a page or two: CamScanner needs only a connection and Smallpdf installs nothing. The HappyConvert roundup recommends Windows desktop installers instead, which pay off for repeated offline batches rather than single conversions.
Smallpdf or FreePDFConvert for a sensitive file?
Smallpdf deletes uploads an hour after processing and FreePDFConvert after three hours, both checked 10 September 2026. For the shorter window pick Smallpdf; if even an hour is too long, a tab-rendered tool never uploads, so there is nothing to delete.
Is a desktop app better than an online converter?
For batch work offline, yes: Wondershare converts batches on the machine. For one file in a browser, online tools finish in seconds and CamScanner runs the conversion on cloud servers. Match the tool to how often you convert.

The tools this compares