- \n
- \n
- \n
- PDF to JPG with Adobe Reader<\/a><\/li>\n
- JPG export from Adobe Acrobat Pro<\/a><\/li>\n
- PDF to JPG via screenshot functions<\/a> (Windows and Mac)<\/li>\n
- Practical online tools<\/a><\/li>\n
- Conclusion<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/a>PDF to JPG with Adobe Reader<\/h2>\n
The free Adobe Reader is installed on almost any computer. It does not allow you to export a PDF directly to JPG, but you can get there by taking a small detour. “Clipboard” or “screenshot” is the magic word in this context.<\/p>\n
Taking a screenshot<\/h3>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.onlineprinters.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/take-a-screenshot.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nHere’s how to: Choose\u00a0Edit<\/span>\u00a0\u2192\u00a0Take a Snapshot<\/span>. The mouse pointer then changes into a cross hair which you can use to drag a rectangle around the area you want to copy. After releasing the mouse button, the area inside the rectangle is coloured and automatically copied to the clipboard. You can either print the selected area directly or edit it in another program.<\/p>\n
\nThe default setting for screenshot resolution in Acrobat Reader is\u00a072\u00a0dpi<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
To print, open the context menu and click\u00a0Print<\/span>. To further use the screenshot or convert it to JPG, use another application such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign or Microsoft Word.<\/p>\n
Conversion with Photoshop<\/h3>\n
In our example, we use Photoshop to convert the PDF to JPG. Create a new file in your image editing program and choose\u00a0Clipboard<\/span>\u00a0under Presets. This tells Photoshop to automatically use the dimensions from the clipboard with 72\u00a0dpi. You should correct the resolution to 300\u00a0dpi if you need a high-resolution JPG. To insert the data into the new file, click\u00a0Paste<\/span>\u00a0or press\u00a0Ctrl<\/span>+V<\/span>. Then\u00a0save<\/span>\u00a0your file in JPEG or JPEG 2000 format and voil\u00e0! There it is, your JPG.<\/p>\n
\nJPG vs. JPEG 2000:<\/strong>\u00a0JPG is a widely known image format. The data are downsampled to achieve a great level of compatibility. Images in JPEG 2000 format do have a better compression rate, but they are only supported by few programs and therefore this format is used less frequently.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Image resolution during export from Acrobat Reader<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.onlineprinters.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/acrobat-reader-general.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nYou can also change the setting for the screenshot in Adobe Acrobat Reader. The standard resolution of 72\u00a0dpi often delivers insufficient quality, especially when working with text but also with image data. If you need a higher resolution, go to the\u00a0General<\/span>\u00a0category in the\u00a0Preferences<\/span>\u00a0of Adobe Acrobat Reader and choose\u00a0Use fixed resolution for Snapshot tool images<\/span>\u00a0and set the resolution you need, e.g. 300\u00a0dpi.<\/p>\n
\nImportant:<\/strong>\u00a0When pasting the screenshot into Photoshop, you should set the resolution of the new file to 300\u00a0dpi. Otherwise, the default values of Photoshop (usually 72\u00a0dpi) will be downsampled again.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
When inserting a screenshot into Word or InDesign, the predefined values of Adobe Acrobat Reader are preserved. But you can change or ideally reduce the resolution again when converting to JPG.<\/p>\n
![\"Screenshot](\"https:\/\/www.onlineprinters.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/resolution-options.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>JPG export from Adobe Acrobat<\/h2>\n
If you have the full version of Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer, you can convert directly to JPEG format in a few seconds \u2013 without taking the detour via the clipboard and an additional application program. Another benefit is that you can adjust the options for exporting PDF to JPG.<\/p>\n
For this purpose, open the PDF and click\u00a0File<\/span>\u00a0\u2192\u00a0Export To…<\/span>\u00a0\u2192\u00a0Image<\/span>\u00a0\u2192\u00a0JPEG or JPEG2000<\/span>. Alternatively, click\u00a0Tools<\/span>\u00a0\u2192\u00a0Export PDF<\/span>. In the list of file formats, click\u00a0Image<\/span>\u00a0and enable\u00a0JPEG<\/span>\u00a0or\u00a0JPEG 2000<\/span>. You can configure the conversion settings by clicking the gear icon adjacent to the selected file format. If you have used the first method via the menu, you will find the same settings under\u00a0Settings<\/span> in the Export dialog.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.onlineprinters.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jpg-export.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nDefining settings for JPG export<\/h3>\n
When saving a JPG, you can specify the File Settings, Color Management and Conversion in the\u00a0Settings<\/span> dialog box.<\/p>\n
You can define the compression settings at\u00a0Grayscale<\/span>\u00a0or\u00a0Color<\/span>.\u00a0The lower the quality, the smaller the file size.\u00a0<\/strong>The selection under\u00a0Format<\/span>\u00a0only affects the web display. Choose\u00a0Baseline<\/span>\u00a0to display the image when it has fully downloaded. This is the right choice in most cases.<\/p>\n
![\"Screenshot](\"https:\/\/www.onlineprinters.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/save-as-jpeg.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nColor Management<\/span>\u00a0lets you specify the settings when working with ICC colour profiles. If you export the JPEGs using the\u00a0Export All Images<\/span>\u00a0command, the display of your images may be different than in the PDF. This may be due to the fact that a profile was embedded in the PDF but not in the individual image data you export.<\/p>\n
Under\u00a0Conversion<\/span>, you can define the Colorspace and the Resolution. To convert your image data to grayscale, choose\u00a0Colorspace:\u00a0Grayscale<\/span>. The\u00a0Resolution<\/span>\u00a0enables you to set the quality and thus the size of the JPG.\u00a0Important:\u00a0<\/strong>The resolution is entered in\u00a0pixels per centimeter\u00a0<\/strong>here, which is rather unusual.<\/p>\n
\nA brief refresher:\u00a0<\/strong>1\u00a0cm = 2.54\u00a0inch<\/p>\n
So you should choose 59.06\u00a0pixels\/cm for 150\u00a0dpi from the list and select 118.11\u00a0pixels\/cm for 300\u00a0dpi.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Exporting multiple or single images from the PDF<\/h3>\n
Extracting only the images in the PDF and exporting them to the JPEG format is done in a breeze. Click\u00a0Tools<\/span>\u00a0\u2192\u00a0Export PDF<\/span>\u00a0\u2192\u00a0Image<\/span>\u00a0and enable the\u00a0Export All Images<\/span> checkbox. This command does not convert the pages of the PDF to JPG but only the images contained in the PDF.<\/p>\n
You need just one image? This, too, is a cinch if you have the full version. Use the\u00a0Selection Tool<\/span>\u00a0for text and images to select the image in question and choose\u00a0Edit Image<\/span> in the context menu. The image opens in your specified image editing tool such as Adobe Photoshop. Now save it as JPEG. Done!<\/p>\n
\nDid you know?<\/strong>\u00a0You can specify the preferred image editor used to open the image in the Preferences dialog of Adobe Acrobat in the\u00a0Content Editing<\/span>\u00a0category under\u00a0Image Editor<\/span>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/a>PDF to JPG via screenshot functions<\/h2>\n
If you don’t fancy using Adobe but still need your PDF page as JPEG, you can use your system’s on-board screenshot functions or external tools such as Snagit, Snipping Tool Plus or Greenshot. The settings for resolution and other options are usually limited and depend on the tool used to take the screenshot.<\/p>\n
Taking screenshots in Windows<\/h3>\n
Just open the desired PDF document and press the\u00a0Print<\/span>\u00a0key on your keyboard to take a shot of the entire screen content. Press\u00a0Print<\/span> + Alt<\/span>\u00a0to create a screenshot of the active window in Windows. Windows automatically saves the screenshot to the clipboard and you can copy it into another program via\u00a0Ctrl<\/span>+V<\/span>. Programs like Snagit work in a similar manner. You can save the screenshot directly as JPG there, too.<\/p>\n
Screenshot function for the Mac<\/h3>\n
Use the shortcut\u00a0Shift<\/span>+Cmd<\/span>+4<\/span>\u00a0to take a screenshot of a specific area with your Mac. To take a shot of the entire screen content, press\u00a0Shift<\/span>+Cmd<\/span>+3<\/span>.<\/p>\n
Next open Mac’s on-board\u00a0Preview<\/strong> application. The program normally recognises the data from the clipboard automatically. Click\u00a0File<\/span>\u00a0\u2192\u00a0New from Clipboard<\/span>\u00a0or press\u00a0Cmd<\/span>+N<\/span> to promptly get a new file containing the screenshot from Acrobat. You can also click\u00a0Open<\/span>\u00a0to open another screenshot. Save your screenshot by clicking\u00a0Export<\/span>\u00a0and choosing to save the JPEG or JPEG 2000 to the desired location.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Web-based conversion<\/h2>\n
You can also work with external, web-based conversion tools. Free converters like LightPDF or PDFtoimage all take a similar approach: The user chooses the desired command on the provider’s website, in this case the conversion from PDF to JPEG, and subsequently uploads the PDF to the website and gets back the JPEG file(s) either automatically or after downloading it.<\/p>\n
It’s worth comparing the providers, because most do not provide a varied range of setting options. What is more, some of the exported JPGs differ significantly in terms of quality and resolution.\u00a0Therefore, choose the tool based on how you intend to further use the image.<\/strong>\u00a0We have taken a closer look at some of the tools:<\/p>\n
lightPDF<\/h3>\n
![\"LightPDF](\"https:\/\/www.onlineprinters.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/logo_lightpdf.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nTo work with\u00a0lightPDF<\/a>,\u00a0go to the homepage and click the\u00a0PDF to JPG<\/span> icon. In the next window, click the plus sign to\u00a0select the file<\/span>\u00a0and choose the PDF you wish to convert. The conversion starts automatically after the file has been uploaded. Then click on the download arrow to start downloading the new JPEG to your computer. As with many online services, there are no possibilities to influence the conversion process. lightPDF, for instance, converts with 100\u00a0dpi resolution. It is generally possible to convert several PDFs at once.<\/p>\n
Convertio<\/h3>\n
![\"Convertio](\"https:\/\/www.onlineprinters.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/logo_convertio.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe result of online provider\u00a0Convertio<\/a> is similar. This tool is capable of directly accessing files from Dropbox or Google Drive. Upload your PDF to the Convertio server, choose the format you want to convert to and click\u00a0Convert. Besides JPG, you can select other image formats such as svg, GIF or PSD. Click\u00a0Download\u00a0to transfer the new JPEGs to your computer. There are no setting options in Convertio. At 200\u00a0dpi, the resolution is twice as high as in LightPDF. You thus get much better quality but also significantly larger amounts of data.<\/p>\n
online2pdf<\/h3>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.onlineprinters.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/logo_online2pdf.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nFurther differences become apparent when comparing the two tools with our third provider: The platform of\u00a0online2pdf<\/a>\u00a0seems a little outdated but does the job nicely and offers some advantages compared to LightPDF and Convertio. After uploading the file, the converter also allows you to select the desired target format. Moreover, you can rotate, split or unlock the file. Before the service starts converting PDF to JPG, you can adjust the quality, resolution and colour mode by clicking\u00a0Compression. After the download, we check the file size and the quality and we are satisfied with both: The file size is smaller than with Convertio and the quality is better.<\/p>\n
Other providers<\/h3>\n
There are other online tools to easily convert PDF to JPG:<\/p>\n
- JPG export from Adobe Acrobat Pro<\/a><\/li>\n
- PDF to JPG with Adobe Reader<\/a><\/li>\n