How to Convert PDF to Image in Linux Command Line
Abstract: the name of my document is Linux_For_Beginners.pdf and we will convert it to PNG format and name the images as Linux_For_Beginners. $ pdftoppm -png Li
pdftoppm converts PDF document pages to image formats like PNG, and others. It is a command-line tool that can convert an entire PDF document into separate image files. With pdftoppm, you can specify the preferred image resolution, scale, and crop your images.
Related Read: 8 Best PDF Document Viewers for Linux SystemsTo use the pdftoppm command-line tool, you need to first install pdftoppm which is a part of the poppler / poppler-utils / poppler-tools package. Install this package as follows depending on your Linux distribution
$ sudo apt install poppler-utils [On Debian/Ubuntu & Mint] $ sudo dnf install poppler-utils [On RHEL/CentOS & Fedora] $ sudo zypper install poppler-tools [On OpenSUSE] $ sudo pacman -S poppler [On Arch Linux]
Below are examples of how you can use the pdftoppm tool to convert your pdf files to images:
1. Convert PDF Document to ImageThe syntax for converting an entire pdf is as follows:
$ pdftoppm -<image_format> <pdf_filename> <image_name> $ pdftoppm -<image_format> <pdf_filename> <image_name>
In the example below, the name of my document is Linux_For_Beginners.pdf and we will convert it to PNG format and name the images as Linux_For_Beginners.
$ pdftoppm -png Linux_For_Beginners.pdf Linux_For_Beginners
Each page of the PDF will be converted to PNG as Linux_For_Beginners-1.png, Linux_For_Beginners-2.png, etc.
Convert PDF to Images in Linux Commandline 2. Convert Range of PDF Pages to ImagesThe syntax for specifying range is as follows:
$ pdftoppm -<image_format> -f N -l N <pdf_filename> <image_name> $ pdftoppm -<image_format> -f N -l N <pdf_filename> <image_name>
Where N
specifies the first-page number to covert and -l N
for the last page to convert.
In the example below, we will convert pages 10 to 15 from Linux_For_Beginners.pdf to PNG.
$ pdftoppm -png -f 10 -l 15 Linux_For_Beginners.pdf Linux_For_Beginners
The output will be images named Linux_For_Beginners-10.png, Linux_For_Beginners-11.png, etc.
Convert Range PDF Pages to Image 3. Convert First PDF Page to ImageTo convert the first page only use the syntax below:
$ pdftoppm -png -f 1 -l 1 Linux_For_Beginners.pdf Linux_For_Beginners4. Adjust DPI Quality to Conversion
Pdftoppm converts PDF pages to images with a DPI of 150 by default. To adjust, use the rx number which specifies the X resolution, and -ry
the number which specifies the Y resolution, in DPI.
In this example, we adjust the DP quality of Linux_For_Beginners.pdf to 300.
$ pdftoppm -png -rx 300 -ry 300 Linux_For_Beginners.pdf Linux_For_Beginners
To see all the choices available and supported in pdftoppm, run the commands:
$ pdftoppm --help $ man pdftoppm
Hopefully, you can now convert your PDF pages to images in Linux using the Pdftoppm command-line tool.