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PDF to Image API

The PDF to Image API converts PDF pages to JPG, PNG or WebP images. Upload a PDF or pass a link to one, choose the pages, the resolution (30 to 300 DPI) and the image quality, and get every page back as an image in one JSON response, together with the page's text. Ask for a single page with an image Accept header to get the image file itself.

Use it to make thumbnails and previews of documents, show PDF pages in apps and browsers that cannot display PDFs, prepare pages for printing or for OCR, or batch convert reports, invoices and scans. Password-protected PDFs are supported.

Each page counts as 10 API calls against your monthly quota. Requests that fail are not counted, and the X-Api-Calls-Charged response header shows how many API calls each request used. See pricing.

Need JPGs only? The PDF to JPG API page covers JPG quality and file sizes. To go the other way, the Image to PDF API and JPG to PDF API turn images into a PDF. To read the text in scanned pages, use the Image to Text API.

Available endpoint:

At a Glance

InputA PDF: upload (about 4 MB), raw body, or url (25 MB)
OutputJPG, PNG or WebP, as base64 in JSON or as an image file
Resolution30 to 300 DPI (default 150)
Pages per requestUp to 10
Page textIncluded for every page
API calls10 per page returned

Choosing a Format

formatBest for
jpgScans, photos and previews: the default, and widely supported. Set quality to trade size for detail.
pngSharp text, line art and diagrams: lossless, larger files.
webpWeb pages and apps: usually smaller than JPG at the same quality.

Choosing a Resolution

dpiUS Letter pageGood for
72612 x 792 pxThumbnails and previews
1501275 x 1650 pxReading on screen (default)
3002550 x 3300 pxPrinting, zooming and OCR

Related APIs

https://api.api-ninjas.com/v1/pdftoimage

Converts the pages of a PDF to JPG, PNG or WebP images. Returns each page as a base64 image with its size and its text, or one page as a raw image file. Accepts GET or POST: use POST to upload the PDF, or GET with url.

Parameters

Send the PDF in one of three ways: as file (a multipart form upload), as url, or as the raw request body with Content-Type: application/pdf (up to about 4 MB). The other parameters can be query parameters or multipart form fields.

  • file  optional

    The PDF, as a multipart form upload (multipart/form-data), up to about 4 MB. Send one PDF per request.

  • url  optional

    A public http:// or https:// link to the PDF, up to 25 MB, e.g. https://example.com/report.pdf. Works with GET or POST.

  • pages  optional

    The pages to convert: one page (1), a range (2-5), a list (1,3,7-9) or a range to the end (4-, page 4 to the last page). Page 1 is the first page. Default: every page, up to 10 per request (see limits).

  • format  optional

    Image format: jpg (default), png or webp.

  • dpi  optional

    Resolution in dots per inch, from 30 to 300. Default 150. At 150 DPI a US Letter page is about 1275 x 1650 pixels; at 300 DPI, 2550 x 3300.

  • quality  optional

    Image quality for jpg and webp, from 1 to 100. Default 85. Lower values make smaller files with more compression artifacts. Ignored for png, which is lossless.

  • password  optional

    The password of a password-protected PDF.

Headers

  • X-Api-Key  required

    API Key associated with your account.

  • Accept  optional

    image/jpeg, image/png, image/webp (matching format) or image/* returns the first requested page as a raw image file instead of JSON.

  • Content-Type  optional

    application/pdf when the request body is the PDF itself. Multipart uploads set their own content type.

Response

The /v1/pdftoimage endpoint returns a JSON object with the following fields, or an error if the request is unsuccessful (see errors).

  • page_count

    Number of pages in the PDF.

  • next_page

    The next requested page that is not in this response, because of the per-request limits, or null when every requested page was returned. To continue, send the same request with pages starting at next_page, e.g. pages=11-.

  • pages

    The converted pages, in the order requested, each with the fields below.

  • pages[].page

    Page number in the PDF (1 is the first page).

  • pages[].format

    jpg, png or webp.

  • pages[].width, pages[].height

    Image size in pixels.

  • pages[].text

    The text on the page, as plain text. Empty for scanned pages, whose text is part of an image; to read those, send the page image to the Image to Text API.

  • pages[].image

    The image file, base64-encoded.

With an image Accept header, the response body is the raw image of the first requested page, with Content-Type image/jpeg, image/png or image/webp. Every successful response has an X-Api-Calls-Charged header with the number of API calls the request counted.

Limits

  • Up to 10 pages per request.
  • Each response carries up to about 4 MB of images. At high DPI fewer pages fit (around four text pages at 300 DPI); the rest are left for the next request, from next_page.
  • Pages wider or taller than 5,000 pixels, or larger than 12 megapixels, at the requested DPI are scaled down to fit.
  • Uploads up to about 4 MB; PDFs from url up to 25 MB.

API Calls

Each page returned counts as 10 API calls: a response with 3 pages counts as 30. Requests that fail are not counted. If your remaining quota covers fewer pages than you asked for, the response returns the pages it covers, and next_page points at the rest.

Live Demo

Live demo · no API key required
Form data and query parameters
file
Using the sample invoice PDF (2 pages) until you choose a file.
pages
format

Get a free API key to get started — no credit card required.

Headers
X-Api-KeyLog in or sign up to get your API key
POST
https://api.api-ninjas.com/v1/pdftoimage?pages=1
Sample response
Page 1 of the PDF as JPG
Page 1: 1275 x 1651 px JPG
{
"page_count": 2,
"next_page": null,
"pages": [
{
"page": 1,
"format": "jpg",
"width": 1275,
"height": 1651,
"text": "INVOICE Example Supplies Ltd.\n100 Example Street\nSpringfield, ST 00000\nInvoice number INV-1042\nInvoice date 2026-11-04\nDue date 2026-12-04\nBill to\nSample Customer Inc.\n200 Sample Avenue\nRiverside, ST 00000\nItem Qty Unit price Amount\nCopy paper, 500 sheets 10 6.50 65.00\nToner cartridge 2 48.00 96.00\nDesk organizer 3 12.00 36.00\nBallpoint pens, box of 12 5 4.20 21.00\nSubtotal 218.00\nTax (8%) 17.44\nTotal due USD 235.44\nThank you for your business. Page 1 of 2",
"image": "/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD/2wBDAAUDBAQEAwUEBAQFBQUGBwwIBwcH..."
}
]
}

The live demo converts one page at up to 150 DPI, from PDFs up to 2 MB. No API key is needed to try it.

Code Examples

# Convert pages of document.pdf; the JSON holds each page as a base64 image curl -X POST "https://api.api-ninjas.com/v1/pdftoimage?pages=1-3&format=png" \ -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \ -F "file=@document.pdf" # Or save page 1 as a PNG file curl -X POST "https://api.api-ninjas.com/v1/pdftoimage?pages=1&format=png" \ -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \ -H "Accept: image/png" \ -F "file=@document.pdf" \ --output page-1.png

Errors

An invalid request returns HTTP 400 with a JSON body holding a readable error message, and is not counted against your quota. Authentication and quota errors use the standard format described in error codes.

CauseExample error
No PDF in the requestSend a PDF as file (a multipart form upload) or as url (a link to the PDF).
The file is not a PDFThe file is not a PDF.
A password-protected PDF without passwordThis PDF is password-protected. Send its password in the password parameter.
A wrong passwordThe password is incorrect for this PDF.
pages outside the PDF, e.g. pages=5 for a 3-page PDFpages is outside this PDF, which has 3 pages.
A pages value that is not a page listpages must be page numbers or ranges such as 1, 2-5, 1,3,7-9 or 4- (page 4 to the end).
A format other than jpg, png or webpformat must be jpg, png or webp.
A number out of range, e.g. dpi=600dpi must be between 30 and 300.
A PDF at url over 25 MBThe PDF at url is larger than 25 MB.
One page alone is too large for a responsePage 1 is too large to return at 300 DPI as PNG. Use a lower dpi or format=jpg.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Yes, but you must have a premium subscription. Commercial use of the PDF to Image API is not permitted on the free tier. See our pricing page to choose a plan that fits your needs.
  • Sign up for a free account to instantly get your API key, then pass it in the X-Api-Key header on every request. The documentation above includes ready-to-run examples in cURL, Python, JavaScript, Node.js, and more.
  • Your API requests will simply be denied once you hit your monthly quota — you will never be charged more than the plan you signed up for. To increase your quota, you can upgrade your plan any time on our pricing page.
  • The API responds with a standard HTTP status code and a JSON error message describing the problem. See our error codes reference for the full list of codes and how to resolve each one, or contact support if you need help.
  • Send the PDF to /v1/pdftoimage: as a multipart upload named file, as the raw request body with Content-Type: application/pdf, or as a url. Choose format (jpg, png or webp), dpi and pages, e.g. /v1/pdftoimage?pages=1-3&format=png. The JSON response holds each page as a base64 image with its width, height and text. For JPG specifics, see the PDF to JPG API.
  • Yes. One request converts up to 10 pages, and fewer at high DPI, because a response carries up to about 4 MB of images. When pages are left over, next_page tells you where to continue: send the same request again with pages=<next_page>- until next_page is null. page_count gives the total number of pages up front.
  • jpg (the default) gives small, widely supported files and suits scans, photos and previews. png is lossless, so text and line art stay pixel-sharp, at a larger size. webp is usually smaller than JPG at the same quality, and works in all modern browsers.
  • 72 DPI for thumbnails and previews, the default 150 DPI for reading on screen, and 300 DPI for printing, zooming or OCR. At 150 DPI a US Letter page is about 1275 x 1650 pixels, and at 300 DPI 2550 x 3300. Very large pages, such as posters and drawings, are scaled down to at most 5,000 pixels on a side and 12 megapixels.
  • Yes. Every page has a text field with the page's text as plain text, so you can index or search a PDF while you convert it. Scanned pages have no text layer, so their text is empty; send their images to the Image to Text API to read them.
  • Each page returned counts as 10 API calls, so converting a 3-page PDF counts as 30. Requests that fail are not counted, and the X-Api-Calls-Charged response header shows the count for each request. See pricing for the monthly API calls in each plan.

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