Do the images have a transparent background?

No. Pages are rendered on white, matching how the PDF prints and keeping the result legible on any background.

Which is better for printing a page?

Either, at 300 DPI — but PNG if the page is mostly type, since JPG's compression softens the edges of small text.

PDFtoPNGorJPG:whichtouse

Both formats can hold a rendered PDF page and both will look fine at a glance. The difference shows up on type: one keeps the edges of letters clean, the other puts a faint haze around them that you cannot remove afterwards.

4 minute read · Advorize PDF Tools

What each format is built for

JPG throws away detail your eye is unlikely to miss, which works beautifully on photographs where colour changes gradually. It is why a scanned page compresses so well.

PNG keeps every pixel exactly. That costs size on a photograph and pays for itself on anything with hard edges — text, tables, line drawings, screenshots, a logo on white.

The practical rule

Scans and photographic pages — JPG, at 150 DPI for screen or 300 for print.
Text, diagrams, charts, screenshots, UI — PNG, every time.
Anything being posted where size matters more than sharpness — JPG.

If you are unsure, export one page both ways and look at a heading at 100%. The difference is obvious on type and invisible on a photograph, which tells you which kind of page you have.

Transparency and backgrounds

PNG supports transparency, but a PDF page does not have any: it is white paper by definition. Pages are therefore rendered on white in both formats, which is what makes them readable when dropped onto a dark slide.

The tool

PDF to PNG

Export PDF pages as lossless PNG images.

Open it

Questions people ask

Because it is lossless — nothing was discarded. That is exactly why the text stayed sharp.