PDF2JPG is a small, free program that can quickly convert PDF’s to JPG or various other image formats (TIF, BMP, PNG, GIF).
There are many instances where you might want to convert PDF to JPG; e.g. to break up a scanned document or ebook into its constituent images in order to fix or enhance them, to ensure that a document cannot be easily converted back into editable format, or perhaps for easier publishing on the net or embedding within other documents, etc.
Although I’ve written about converting a PDF to Word and JPGs to PDFs, I recently needed to convert pages of a PDF document to JPG images. This free program is able to do this quickly, in batch, according to user-specified DPI resolution.
Here are some PROS and CONS:
PROS:
- Easy to use: drag and drop your PDFs onto the interface.
- Fast: conversions happen very quickly.
- Supports many formats: namely JPG, TIF, BMP, PNG, and GIF
- Lets you specify DPI: but use this option carefully; higher DPI’s can mean unyieldingly large image file sizes; experiment for the best results.
- Convert in batch: will process a queue of documents according to desired settings
CONS:
- Installs to “c:\PDFToJPG” by default, which I find strange, although not a big deal. Had no problem changing the install location to “Program files” though, during the installation process. (Note: program 100% clean as confirmed by its VirusTotal Profile).
The verdict: normally, I would use convert PDF to image by either using the PDF to JPG conversion feature in PDF-XChange Viewer, or the print-to-image feature in the PDFCreator virtual printer. This may be a better option, however because it can do it in batch, in multiple formats, lets you specify DPI, and (most notably) is very fast. It’s also easier to point people to a single program that does exactly what they want.
Version Tested: 2
Compatibility: WinAll
[Update Jun 2011] Since this review the program seems to have gone shareware; however, you can get the last freeware version by visiting this link (approx 2.14 megs). You can also visit the program home page to but e mindful that the version offered there will ask for registration.
