Java PDF to Image File

How Do I Convert an Existing PDF Document to Images?

toBufferedImages accepts an optional ToImageOptions argument for controlling output dimensions, and a PageSelection argument for targeting specific pages. When no arguments are passed, all pages are converted at their natural resolution.

The example below converts all pages of a PDF to PNG files, using ToImageOptions to cap each output image at 800x500 pixels:

//:path=/static-assets/ironpdf-java/content-code-examples/how-to/java-pdf-to-image-tutorial/convert-pdf-to-images.java
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.PdfDocument;
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.edit.PageSelection;
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.image.ToImageOptions;
import javax.imageio.ImageIO;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.file.Paths;
import java.util.List;

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
        // Load the PDF document from disk
        PdfDocument pdf = PdfDocument.fromFile(Paths.get("business_plan.pdf"));

        // Configure output image dimensions
        ToImageOptions options = new ToImageOptions();
        options.setImageMaxHeight(800);
        options.setImageMaxWidth(500);

        // Convert all pages to BufferedImage objects with the configured dimensions
        List<BufferedImage> pages = pdf.toBufferedImages(options, PageSelection.allPages());

        // Write each page image to the assets/images folder (create the folder first)
        int pageIndex = 1;
        for (BufferedImage page : pages) {
            String fileName = "assets/images/" + pageIndex++ + ".png";
            ImageIO.write(page, "PNG", new File(fileName));
        }
    }
}

//:path=/static-assets/ironpdf-java/content-code-examples/how-to/java-pdf-to-image-tutorial/convert-pdf-to-images.java
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.PdfDocument;
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.edit.PageSelection;
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.image.ToImageOptions;
import javax.imageio.ImageIO;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.file.Paths;
import java.util.List;

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
        // Load the PDF document from disk
        PdfDocument pdf = PdfDocument.fromFile(Paths.get("business_plan.pdf"));

        // Configure output image dimensions
        ToImageOptions options = new ToImageOptions();
        options.setImageMaxHeight(800);
        options.setImageMaxWidth(500);

        // Convert all pages to BufferedImage objects with the configured dimensions
        List<BufferedImage> pages = pdf.toBufferedImages(options, PageSelection.allPages());

        // Write each page image to the assets/images folder (create the folder first)
        int pageIndex = 1;
        for (BufferedImage page : pages) {
            String fileName = "assets/images/" + pageIndex++ + ".png";
            ImageIO.write(page, "PNG", new File(fileName));
        }
    }
}

The output images are saved to assets/images/ with numeric filenames starting at 1. Create that folder before running the program, as ImageIO.write does not create missing directories. The setImageMaxHeight and setImageMaxWidth calls set upper bounds on each dimension; IronPDF preserves the original aspect ratio and does not stretch the image.

PDF to Images Output - 11 PNG files, one per page

For more conversion examples, visit the PDF rasterization examples page.

How Do I Convert a URL to Images Using IronPDF?

PdfDocument.renderUrlAsPdf fetches the URL, renders it with the built-in Chromium engine, and returns a PdfDocument that can be immediately passed to toBufferedImages. This makes it straightforward to capture any publicly accessible web page as a series of images.

The example below renders an Amazon product page to a PDF and then saves each resulting page as a PNG file:

//:path=/static-assets/ironpdf-java/content-code-examples/how-to/java-pdf-to-image-tutorial/convert-url-to-images.java
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.PdfDocument;
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.edit.PageSelection;
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.image.ToImageOptions;
import javax.imageio.ImageIO;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.List;

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
        // Render a URL to a PDF document using the Chromium rendering engine
        PdfDocument pdf = PdfDocument.renderUrlAsPdf("https://www.amazon.com");

        // Configure output image dimensions
        ToImageOptions options = new ToImageOptions();
        options.setImageMaxHeight(800);
        options.setImageMaxWidth(500);

        // Convert all pages and write to disk
        List<BufferedImage> pages = pdf.toBufferedImages(options, PageSelection.allPages());
        int pageIndex = 1;
        for (BufferedImage page : pages) {
            String fileName = "assets/images/" + pageIndex++ + ".png";
            ImageIO.write(page, "PNG", new File(fileName));
        }
    }
}

//:path=/static-assets/ironpdf-java/content-code-examples/how-to/java-pdf-to-image-tutorial/convert-url-to-images.java
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.PdfDocument;
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.edit.PageSelection;
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.image.ToImageOptions;
import javax.imageio.ImageIO;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.List;

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
        // Render a URL to a PDF document using the Chromium rendering engine
        PdfDocument pdf = PdfDocument.renderUrlAsPdf("https://www.amazon.com");

        // Configure output image dimensions
        ToImageOptions options = new ToImageOptions();
        options.setImageMaxHeight(800);
        options.setImageMaxWidth(500);

        // Convert all pages and write to disk
        List<BufferedImage> pages = pdf.toBufferedImages(options, PageSelection.allPages());
        int pageIndex = 1;
        for (BufferedImage page : pages) {
            String fileName = "assets/images/" + pageIndex++ + ".png";
            ImageIO.write(page, "PNG", new File(fileName));
        }
    }
}

URL to Images Output - 5 PNG files

For pages that require authentication or session cookies before rendering, see the website logins guide.

How Do I Convert Specific Pages to Images?

PageSelection provides several factory methods for targeting a subset of pages rather than the entire document. This is useful when only a cover page, a summary section, or a known page range needs to be extracted.

//:path=/static-assets/ironpdf-java/content-code-examples/how-to/java-pdf-to-image-tutorial/page-selection.java
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.PdfDocument;
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.edit.PageSelection;
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.image.ToImageOptions;
import javax.imageio.ImageIO;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.file.Paths;
import java.util.List;

public class PageSelectionExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
        PdfDocument pdf = PdfDocument.fromFile(Paths.get("report.pdf"));
        ToImageOptions options = new ToImageOptions();
        options.setImageMaxHeight(800);
        options.setImageMaxWidth(500);

        // Convert only the first page (page index is zero-based)
        List<BufferedImage> coverPage = pdf.toBufferedImages(options, PageSelection.singlePage(0));
        ImageIO.write(coverPage.get(0), "PNG", new File("cover.png"));

        // Convert pages 2 through 5 (zero-based indices 1 through 4)
        List<BufferedImage> excerpt = pdf.toBufferedImages(options, PageSelection.pageRange(1, 4));
        for (int i = 0; i < excerpt.size(); i++) {
            ImageIO.write(excerpt.get(i), "PNG", new File("excerpt_" + (i + 1) + ".png"));
        }
    }
}

//:path=/static-assets/ironpdf-java/content-code-examples/how-to/java-pdf-to-image-tutorial/page-selection.java
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.PdfDocument;
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.edit.PageSelection;
import com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.image.ToImageOptions;
import javax.imageio.ImageIO;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.file.Paths;
import java.util.List;

public class PageSelectionExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
        PdfDocument pdf = PdfDocument.fromFile(Paths.get("report.pdf"));
        ToImageOptions options = new ToImageOptions();
        options.setImageMaxHeight(800);
        options.setImageMaxWidth(500);

        // Convert only the first page (page index is zero-based)
        List<BufferedImage> coverPage = pdf.toBufferedImages(options, PageSelection.singlePage(0));
        ImageIO.write(coverPage.get(0), "PNG", new File("cover.png"));

        // Convert pages 2 through 5 (zero-based indices 1 through 4)
        List<BufferedImage> excerpt = pdf.toBufferedImages(options, PageSelection.pageRange(1, 4));
        for (int i = 0; i < excerpt.size(); i++) {
            ImageIO.write(excerpt.get(i), "PNG", new File("excerpt_" + (i + 1) + ".png"));
        }
    }
}

PageSelection.singlePage(0) targets only the first page, which is useful for generating a cover thumbnail. PageSelection.pageRange(1, 4) extracts pages two through five using zero-based indices. Both return a List<BufferedImage>, so the loop pattern is identical regardless of how many pages are selected.