How to Convert a PDF to an Image File in Node.js

How Do I Install IronPDF for Node.js?

npm install @ironsoftware/ironpdf

npm install @ironsoftware/ironpdf

Install IronPDF's Node.js package from npm to convert PDFs to PNG, JPG, GIF, BMP, and other image formats.

Before converting PDFs to images in production, configure your license key. The package also requires the IronPDF Engine to be installed on your system — this binary handles all PDF rendering operations and must be present for conversion to function.

How Do I Convert a PDF to an Image?

The rasterizeToImageFiles method reads a PDF document and writes one image file per page to the output path you provide. For single-page PDFs, it produces exactly one image. For multi-page PDFs, it appends a page number suffix to each filename automatically.

The example below loads a sample PDF from Learning Container and converts it to a PNG file.

The sample PDF file opened in a viewer. Download this file and other test PDFs from Learning Container.

//:path=/static-assets/pdf/content-code-examples/how-to/nodejs-pdf-to-image/convert-to-png.js
import { PdfDocument } from "@ironsoftware/ironpdf";

// Load the PDF and convert it to a PNG image.
// The output path determines the format — change .png to .jpg for JPEG output.
PdfDocument.fromFile("./sample-pdf-file.pdf").then((pdf) => {
    pdf.rasterizeToImageFiles("./images/sample-pdf-file.png");
    return pdf;
}).catch((error) => {
    console.error("Error converting PDF to image:", error);
});

PdfDocument.fromFile loads the PDF and returns a Promise resolving to a PdfDocument object. The .then callback receives the resolved document and calls rasterizeToImageFiles with the destination path. The file extension in the path — .png here — tells IronPDF which format to produce. The .catch block handles any read or conversion errors.

The PNG generated from the sample PDF above. IronPDF converts the document in three lines of code.

For more detailed examples of this method's options, see the PDF to Images code example page.

How Do I Convert a PDF to JPEG Format?

Format selection is automatic: whatever extension you pass to rasterizeToImageFiles determines the output format. To produce a JPEG instead of a PNG, change the extension in the destination path:

//:path=/static-assets/pdf/content-code-examples/how-to/nodejs-pdf-to-image/convert-to-jpeg-extension.js
// Switch to JPEG by changing the file extension in the output path.
pdf.rasterizeToImageFiles("./images/pdf-to-jpeg.jpg");

When the output filename cannot be controlled — for example, in automated pipelines with fixed naming schemes — pass an ImageType value in the options object to override extension-based detection:

//:path=/static-assets/pdf/content-code-examples/how-to/nodejs-pdf-to-image/convert-to-jpeg-imagetype.js
import { PdfDocument, ImageType } from "@ironsoftware/ironpdf";

// ImageType.JPG forces JPEG output regardless of the file extension.
const options = {
    type: ImageType.JPG,
    dpi: 300
};
PdfDocument.fromFile("./sample-pdf-file.pdf").then((pdf) => {
    pdf.rasterizeToImageFiles("./images/output.png", options);
    return pdf;
});

The type property in the options object takes precedence over the filename extension. In the example above, rasterizeToImageFiles produces a JPEG file even though the destination path ends with .png. The same pattern applies to GIF and BMP outputs.

How Do I Convert a Multi-Page PDF to Images?

For documents with more than one page, rasterizeToImageFiles creates one image per page. IronPDF appends a zero-based page index to each output filename, keeping the output organized without additional code on your part.

A two-page sample PDF. IronPDF creates one image file per page during conversion.

//:path=/static-assets/pdf/content-code-examples/how-to/nodejs-pdf-to-image/convert-multipage.js
import { PdfDocument } from "@ironsoftware/ironpdf";

// Each page of the PDF becomes a separate image file.
// Output filenames: multipage-pdf-page_1.png, multipage-pdf-page_2.png, etc.
PdfDocument.fromFile("./multipage-pdf.pdf").then((pdf) => {
    pdf.rasterizeToImageFiles("./images/multipage-pdf/multipage-pdf-page.png");
});

The two PNG files produced from the two-page PDF. IronPDF names each output file with its page number.

This automatic page-splitting behavior works with all supported image formats. Pair it with the fromPages option in the next section to convert only specific pages from large documents. For working in the opposite direction, the image to PDF example shows how to combine multiple image files into a single PDF document.

How Do I Convert Only Specific Pages?

The fromPages property in the options object accepts an array of zero-based page indexes. Only the specified pages are rasterized; all others are skipped. This is useful when working with large PDFs where only a subset of pages is needed — for instance, extracting cover and section-start pages for a document preview. When you need to work with individual pages before converting them, the Node.js API reference for PdfDocument documents additional page-level operations.

//:path=/static-assets/pdf/content-code-examples/how-to/nodejs-pdf-to-image/convert-selective-pages.js
import { PdfDocument, ImageType } from "@ironsoftware/ironpdf";

// Convert only pages 1, 4, 6, and 9 (zero-indexed: 0, 3, 5, 8) to BMP.
const options = {
    type: ImageType.BMP,
    fromPages: [0, 3, 5, 8],
    dpi: 150
};
PdfDocument.fromFile("./sample-pdf-with-images.pdf").then((pdf) => {
    pdf.rasterizeToImageFiles(
        "./images/multipage-selective-pdf/multipage-pdf-page.bmp",
        options
    );
}).catch((error) => {
    console.error("Failed to convert pages:", error);
});

IronPDF rasterized only the four pages specified in the fromPages array. The other pages were not processed.

Page indexes in fromPages are zero-based, so [0, 3, 5, 8] targets the first, fourth, sixth, and ninth pages. The DPI value of 150 balances output quality against file size — suitable for archive or preview use cases. Selective conversion is compatible with all supported image types.

What Are the Next Steps for PDF-to-Image Conversion?

IronPDF's rasterizeToImageFiles method handles format selection, multi-page splitting, and selective page conversion in a consistent API. The options object is the single extension point for format overrides, DPI control, and page filtering.

To go further, the IronPDF Node.js API reference documents all parameters available on rasterizeToImageFiles and the PdfDocument class. The PDF to Images code example shows rasterizeToImageFiles used with additional configuration. To work in the opposite direction, see converting images to PDF files or converting multi-frame TIFF files to PDF.

Start your free trial of IronPDF for Node.js to test PDF-to-image conversion in your own project. View licensing options to find the plan that fits your team.

Ready to see what else IronPDF can do? Check out the full Node.js tutorial here: HTML to PDF in Node.js