The 150 DPI Trap
Most PDF-to-JPG converters output at 150 DPI by default. This works fine for:
- Screen viewing on phones and laptops
- Quick previews
- Email attachments to non-print recipients
It fails for:
- Printing at typical home printer resolution (300+ DPI required)
- Printing at professional services (300-600 DPI required)
- Embedding in print documents
- Detailed inspection (zooming in)
The result of using 150 DPI for print: text looks blurry, fine lines pixelate, anything smaller than 12pt becomes unreadable.
Our PDF to JPG converter lets you set DPI in Advanced Options. Here's how to pick.
DPI Cheat Sheet by Use Case
| Use case | DPI | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Email attachment, web preview | 96-150 DPI | Screen-only, smaller files |
| Mobile reading | 150 DPI | Same as above for retina displays |
| Document review on screen | 150-200 DPI | Standard for digital review |
| Print at home (inkjet) | 300 DPI | Standard print resolution |
| Print at FedEx/Office Depot | 300-400 DPI | Sharper output |
| Professional printing (offset) | 600 DPI | Magazine quality |
| Archive for long-term keep | 600 DPI | Future-proofs for any use |
For most PDFs you'll convert, 300 DPI is the universal safe answer. It's high enough for print, not so high that file sizes explode.
File Size Math
Same PDF, different DPI outputs:
| DPI | Per-page size | 10-page document |
|---|---|---|
| 96 DPI | 100-200 KB | 1-2 MB |
| 150 DPI | 250-500 KB | 2.5-5 MB |
| 300 DPI | 800 KB - 1.5 MB | 8-15 MB |
| 600 DPI | 3-5 MB | 30-50 MB |
| 1200 DPI | 12-20 MB | 120-200 MB |
For a 10-page contract you're emailing, 150 DPI is perfect. For 10 pages of architectural drawings to print, 600 DPI.
When PDF-to-JPG Beats PDF Sharing
Sometimes the right answer isn't to convert at all. Reasons to convert anyway:
- Recipient has limited PDF support (older Android phones, very old email clients)
- You only want one page out of 50 (extract one page as JPG, share that)
- You're embedding in a presentation that doesn't accept PDFs
- You're posting to a forum that strips PDFs but allows images
- You need to annotate visually in a phone photo app
For everything else (legal documents, contracts, design proofs), keep the PDF.
Multi-Page PDFs: Three Output Strategies
For a multi-page PDF, you have three options:
- One JPG per page (default). Outputs
document-1.jpg,document-2.jpg, etc. - Single tall JPG (vertically stitched). All pages combined into one image. Useful for screenshots of articles, threaded conversations.
- Selected pages only (using Advanced Options page-range). Extract pages 3-5 of a 50-page document.
Our converter supports all three. The single-tall JPG option is great for sharing chat threads or article scans where the recipient just needs to scroll.
Background Color and Transparency
PDFs sometimes have transparent or off-white backgrounds. JPG doesn't support transparency, so you have to pick a fill color.
Defaults:
- White (most common, works for 95% of PDFs)
- Off-white (#F5F5F5) for soft document scans
- Black (#000000) for dark-mode designed PDFs
In Advanced Options, you can set the fill color or convert to PNG instead (PNG supports transparency).
For PDFs with light text on dark background that you want to keep dark, use PDF to PNG instead of JPG.
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Setting 600 DPI when 150 is needed
Bigger isn't better. A 600 DPI screenshot of a contract is a 50MB file that takes 30 seconds to email. 150 DPI is 2MB and looks identical on screen.
Mistake 2: Not checking page selection
A 200-page PDF converted at 300 DPI = 200 JPG files totaling 200-300MB. If you only need pages 1-5, specify the page range first.
Mistake 3: JPG when PNG is right
PDFs with diagrams, charts, screenshots of UIs — these have flat colors and crisp edges. PNG is better for these (no JPG compression artifacts on edges).
Mistake 4: Wrong color profile
Some PDFs use CMYK color profiles for print. JPG defaults to sRGB. Conversion can shift colors slightly. For color-critical work, use PDF to TIFF which preserves CMYK.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my JPG look pixelated even at 300 DPI?
Probably the source PDF was already low-resolution. PDFs with embedded images that were scanned at low DPI can't be improved by extracting at high DPI. Garbage in, garbage out.
Can I batch-convert multiple PDFs at once?
Yes, drop multiple PDFs into our batch PDF tool up to 5 at a time on free, unlimited on Pro.
What about PDF forms with editable fields?
Forms convert as flat images; editable fields become non-editable. If you need to keep editability, don't convert; share the PDF directly.
Why does my converted JPG show only the first page?
Default behavior is page-1 only when set to "Single page" mode. Switch to "All pages" or specify a page range in Advanced Options.
Can I convert encrypted PDFs?
Password-protected PDFs need to be unlocked first. Use PDF unlock tool (requires you to have the password), then convert.
Related Reading
- PDF Compression Without Quality Loss
- Best Image Formats for Photo Preservation
- PDF Passport Photo Print Size
Bottom Line
Use 300 DPI for print, 150 DPI for screen. Pick a page range to avoid converting documents you don't need. Use PDF to PNG instead of JPG for diagrams and screenshots. Our PDF to JPG converter supports all of this in Advanced Options.
