How Do I Extract Images From a PDF?

How do I extract images from a PDF?

Extract Images opens the file, finds every picture stored inside it, and lets you download them as separate JPEG or PNG files.

• Upload the PDF: it opens the file in your browser and lists every picture it finds, page by page.
• Choose what to save: pick one picture, a few, or all of them before you download.
• Download as a zip: more than one picture comes back together in a single zip file.
• Works on any device: there's nothing to install, so it works the same on a phone as on a computer.

Why are the images I pull out blurry or small?

A low quality picture inside a PDF stays low quality once you take it out, because extraction saves exactly what was stored, not a fresh copy of the original photo.

• Already shrunk: most PDFs compress their pictures to keep the file small, so what's inside is smaller than the original photo.
• Stretched on the page: a picture can look large on the printed page while the file behind it stays small.
• Scanned at a low resolution: a page scanned at 150 dots per inch (dpi) looks noticeably softer than one scanned at 300 dpi, the setting most scanning guides recommend for text.
• Saved as JPEG more than once: JPEG throws away a little detail every time it's compressed, so a picture saved this way repeatedly gets softer each time.

Why doesn't extraction find any images in my scanned PDF?

A scanned page is usually one image covering it from edge to edge, so there's nothing smaller stored inside it to pull out.

• One picture per page: a scanner saves each page as a single photo of everything on it, text included.
• No separate photos to find: Extract Images only pulls out pictures stored apart from the rest of the page, and a scan doesn't have any.
• Want the whole page as a picture instead: PDF to PNG saves each page as its own image file, scan or not.
• Want the words instead: OCR PDF reads the text in a scan and adds it back in as text you can select and copy.

What file types do extracted images come out as?

Most extracted images come out as JPEG or PNG, the two formats a PDF most often uses to store pictures inside the file.

• JPEG for photos: photos are usually stored this way because it compresses them a lot while still looking sharp, and almost every PDF reader can open it.
• PNG for everything else: logos, screenshots and line drawings are usually stored without JPEG's quality loss, so extraction saves them as PNG.
• The standard behind it: ISO 32000-2:2020, the current PDF standard, published by the PDF Association in December 2020, sets out how a PDF stores pictures inside itself.
• A handful of other formats: some PDFs carry pictures in less common formats, which Extract Images converts to JPEG or PNG on the way out.

Try the tools

Try it on your own file. The tools are free and you don't need an account.