Convert PDF to Images with Python: PyMuPDF, pdf2image and Pillow

Extracting PDF pages as PNG or JPG images is a common task: document previews, diagram extraction, OCR processing, or visual archiving.

Tool Comparison

PyMuPDF (fitz) — The Fastest Option

pip install pymupdf

import fitz
import os

def pdf_to_images(pdf_path, output_dir="pages", dpi=150, fmt="png"):
    os.makedirs(output_dir, exist_ok=True)
    doc = fitz.open(pdf_path)
    zoom = dpi / 72
    matrix = fitz.Matrix(zoom, zoom)

    paths = []
    for page_num in range(len(doc)):
        pixmap = doc[page_num].get_pixmap(matrix=matrix, alpha=False)
        path = f"{output_dir}/page_{page_num+1:03d}.{fmt}"
        pixmap.save(path)
        paths.append(path)
        print(f"  {path} ({pixmap.width}x{pixmap.height}px)")

    doc.close()
    return paths

images = pdf_to_images("document.pdf", dpi=150)

Specific Pages Only

import fitz

doc = fitz.open("report.pdf")
matrix = fitz.Matrix(200/72, 200/72)

for idx in [0, 2, 4]:          # pages 1, 3, 5
    if idx < len(doc):
        pixmap = doc[idx].get_pixmap(matrix=matrix)
        pixmap.save(f"page_{idx+1}.png")

doc.close()

Transparent Background (Alpha Channel)

import fitz
doc = fitz.open("logo_in_pdf.pdf")
pixmap = doc[0].get_pixmap(matrix=fitz.Matrix(2, 2), alpha=True)
pixmap.save("with_transparency.png")
doc.close()

Save as JPG

import fitz
doc = fitz.open("catalog.pdf")
for i, page in enumerate(doc):
    pix = page.get_pixmap(matrix=fitz.Matrix(150/72, 150/72), alpha=False)
    pix.save(f"page_{i+1:03d}.jpg", jpg_quality=85)
doc.close()

pdf2image — Poppler for Maximum Fidelity

pip install pdf2image
# Ubuntu: sudo apt-get install poppler-utils
# macOS:  brew install poppler

from pdf2image import convert_from_path, convert_from_bytes
import os

pages = convert_from_path("document.pdf", dpi=150)

os.makedirs("output", exist_ok=True)
for i, page in enumerate(pages):
    page.save(f"output/page_{i+1:03d}.png", "PNG")

# From bytes (web APIs)
with open("document.pdf", "rb") as f:
    pages = convert_from_bytes(f.read(), dpi=120)
pages[0].save("first_page.jpg", "JPEG", quality=90)

Advanced Options

pages = convert_from_path(
    "report.pdf",
    dpi=200,
    output_folder="./output",   # write to disk without loading into RAM
    fmt="jpeg",
    jpegopt={"quality": 85, "progressive": True},
    first_page=2,
    last_page=5,
    grayscale=False,
    size=(1200, None),          # fixed width, proportional height
    thread_count=4,
)

Large PDFs Without Exhausting RAM

pages = convert_from_path(
    "large_book.pdf",
    dpi=150,
    output_folder="large_pages",
    paths_only=True,            # returns paths, not PIL objects
)
print(f"Generated {len(pages)} images")

Post-Processing with Pillow

from pdf2image import convert_from_path
from PIL import ImageEnhance
import os

pages = convert_from_path("scan.pdf", dpi=200)
os.makedirs("processed", exist_ok=True)

for i, img in enumerate(pages):
    gray = img.convert('L')
    enhanced = ImageEnhance.Contrast(gray).enhance(1.5)
    binary = enhanced.point(lambda x: 255 if x > 128 else 0, '1')
    binary.save(f"processed/page_{i+1:03d}.png")

Extract Embedded Images from PDF

import fitz

doc = fitz.open("catalog.pdf")
for page_num, page in enumerate(doc):
    for img_idx, img_ref in enumerate(page.get_images(full=True)):
        xref = img_ref[0]
        image = doc.extract_image(xref)
        name = f"p{page_num+1}_img{img_idx+1}.{image['ext']}"
        with open(name, "wb") as f:
            f.write(image["image"])
        print(f"Extracted: {name}")
doc.close()

OCR with Tesseract

import fitz, pytesseract, io
from PIL import Image

doc = fitz.open("scanned_text.pdf")
all_text = []
matrix = fitz.Matrix(300/72, 300/72)   # 300 DPI for OCR

for num, page in enumerate(doc):
    pix = page.get_pixmap(matrix=matrix, alpha=False)
    img = Image.open(io.BytesIO(pix.tobytes("png")))
    text = pytesseract.image_to_string(img, lang='eng')
    all_text.append(f"--- Page {num+1} ---\n{text}")
    print(f"Page {num+1}: {len(text)} characters extracted")

doc.close()
with open("ocr_output.txt", "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
    f.write("\n\n".join(all_text))

DPI by Use Case

Convert PDF to Images Online

KaijuConverter allows direct PDF to PNG or JPG conversion in the browser, page by page or in bulk.

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