PDF to PNG vs. JPG vs. WEBP: Which Format to Use

PNG and WEBP both support transparency as a format; JPG doesn't. That said, a rendered PDF page is always opaque — a page has a real background (white, or whatever color the page itself uses), not a transparent one. So when you convert a PDF page to PNG, there's no transparency being "preserved": the output simply matches exactly what the page shows, saved without compression loss.

This is the opposite direction from converting an image into a PDF. When a transparent PNG is turned into a PDF page with ItsaPDF's PNG to PDF tool, that image's own transparency is preserved in the resulting PDF. Converting a PDF page back into an image doesn't involve that same transparency question, since the page itself was never transparent to begin with.

PNG produces the largest files of the three, in exchange for zero compression artifacts — worth it for pages that are mostly text, line art, or a screenshot, where sharp edges matter more than file size. JPG and WEBP both trade some detail for a smaller file, controlled by an adjustable quality setting from 60–100% in ItsaPDF's tools. WEBP's compression is generally more efficient than JPG's, so a WEBP image often looks similar to a JPG at a meaningfully smaller file size — useful when file size matters, such as publishing images on a website.

None of these figures are fixed — the actual size difference for any specific page depends on what's on it. A page of dense text compresses very differently than a page with a photograph.

JPG and PNG open in essentially every image viewer, operating system, and application without exception — decades of universal support mean you rarely have to think about whether the recipient can open one. WEBP is well supported in current browsers and most modern operating systems and photo apps, but an older application, an outdated device, or software that hasn't been updated in a while may not display it correctly, or at all. If a WEBP image needs to open reliably for someone whose setup you don't control — a client, a government form, an unfamiliar piece of software — JPG is the safer default.

All three PDF-to-image tools offer the same three resolution presets: 96 DPI ("Standard"), 150 DPI ("High"), and 300 DPI ("Print"). DPI stands for dots per inch — a higher number means more pixels are packed into each inch of the page, producing a sharper, larger image. 96 DPI is enough for viewing on a screen, 150 DPI is a reasonable middle ground for general sharing, and 300 DPI is the standard baseline for print or for zooming in heavily without the image looking soft. Resolution and format are independent choices — you can pair any DPI setting with any of the three formats, and a higher DPI increases file size regardless of which format you choose.

Everything above covers converting a PDF page into an image. The reverse direction — combining JPG, PNG, or WEBP images back into a PDF — uses separate tools (JPG to PDF, PNG to PDF, WEBP to PDF, or the combined Images to PDF tool for a mix of formats) and has its own separate considerations, like page size and orientation, that don't apply when going from PDF to image. If you're scanning documents as photos and need the opposite conversion, that's the direction to look at instead.

PDF to JPG, PDF to PNG, and PDF to WEBP all work the same way: open the tool and select your PDF, choose which pages to convert and a resolution (96, 150, or 300 DPI), set a quality level for JPG or WEBP, then convert and download the images individually or as a ZIP. PDF to PNG has no quality slider, since PNG's compression is lossless by design — only the resolution is adjustable.