What DPI should I use when converting PDF to JPG?
DPI (dots per inch) controls the resolution of the exported JPG image. Choosing the right DPI is the single most important factor in getting a useful, high-quality output. Higher DPI = larger file size and sharper image. Lower DPI = smaller file but lower resolution.
| Use case | Recommended DPI | Typical file size per page |
|---|---|---|
| Web display, email attachment, social media | 72–96 DPI | 50–200KB |
| Standard office printing, reports | 150 DPI | 200–500KB |
| Professional print, large format, editing | 300 DPI | 1–5MB |
| Archival, pre-press, magazine printing | 600 DPI | 5–20MB |
How to convert PDF to high-quality JPG
- Open PDFWix PDF to JPG — browser-based, no upload to servers.
- Upload your PDF.
- Select output DPI: choose 300 for professional quality, 150 for everyday use, 72 for web.
- Click Convert. Each page becomes a separate JPG file.
- Download — PDFWix exports a ZIP containing all JPG files, one per page.
JPG vs PNG when converting from PDF
JPG uses lossy compression — excellent for photographs and pages with many colours. PNG uses lossless compression — better for pages with sharp text, line art, diagrams and screenshots. For most PDF pages, JPG at 150+ DPI produces excellent quality. If you need pixel-perfect text sharpness (e.g. for OCR post-processing), use PNG output where available. For uploading to Instagram, JPG is the preferred format — see our guide on sharing PDFs on Instagram.
Converting PDF to JPG for printing
If you are converting a PDF to JPG for physical printing, use 300 DPI minimum. At 150 DPI, text is readable but images may appear slightly soft when printed larger than A5. At 72 DPI, print quality is poor — suitable only for screen display. For professional print (posters, brochures), use 300–600 DPI. The resulting JPG files will be large (2–10MB each) but will print sharply at full size. You can also compress the PDF before conversion if you only need moderate quality.