# Converting PDFs to Images



## Michael1973 (Jul 9, 2015)

Does anybody have experience converting PDFs to graphic images without losing quality? I've been working on reformatting a bunch of PDFs and as part of the process, I'm converting the existing pages to JPG files, then using a PDF Editor to drop the JPGs back into the PDF. In the end, my booklets end up formatted correctly, but half of the pages are poorer quality than before.

Any suggestions?


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## SpywareDr (Jun 15, 2013)

May be because JPEG (.jpg or .jpeg filename extension) is a commonly used method of *lossy compression* for digital images.


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

Try converting them to TIF or BMP instead, or see if there's an option to save the JPGs at maximum quality.


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## sobeit (Nov 11, 2007)

save them as a tiff file if you are using acrobat. Then using a image or graphic program, convert to jpg. There is also an acrobat addon called freebird by bcl tech that will save from acrobat to jpg without losing quality.


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## Michael1973 (Jul 9, 2015)

Simply saving the file as a TIF gives me the same results as saving it as a JPG. The text on the pages is still very much readable, but the quality is definitely lesser.

I'm not sure how saving converting the TIF files back to JPG using graphics software will restore the quality, but I'll give it a try.

Is the Freebird add-on something that I would need to pay for?


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## SpywareDr (Jun 15, 2013)

The quality "loss" due to saving as a .JPG cannot be recovered. Unless you have a backup of the original, what was "lost" is gone forever. (And hence the term "lossy compression").


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## sobeit (Nov 11, 2007)

Michael1973 said:


> Simply saving the file as a TIF gives me the same results as saving it as a JPG. The text on the pages is still very much readable, but the quality is definitely lesser.
> 
> I'm not sure how saving converting the TIF files back to JPG using graphics software will restore the quality, but I'll give it a try.
> 
> Is the Freebird add-on something that I would need to pay for?


not so if you set the dpi. I convert pdf to tiff files many times a day every single work day using the full version of acrobat in order to vectorized. The vectorized files must be the exact match of the original. We used to use freebird until acrobat became advance enough to use by itself. I only mentioned it since you did not say exactly what software you were using and, no, it is not free.


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## Michael1973 (Jul 9, 2015)

Forgive my ignorance, but how would you go about adjusting the DPI? Is there an option in Acrobat for that, or is it done when resaving the TIF as a JPG? And if so, what's a good software to use for it?

(For the record, I'm not a graphic designer -- our graphic designer was laid off and I inherited all her work, so I'm completely winging it.)


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## sobeit (Nov 11, 2007)

I am not a graphic designer either :grin: save as - select tiff - set dpi under settings.


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## Michael1973 (Jul 9, 2015)

Bumping this thread back up to ask a related question. First, I should mention in response to previous comments that adjusting the resolution when saving my files as TIF proved to be a very successful solution.

Now, as a follow-up issue, I'm trying to save a PDF as an image but having difficulty maintaining the color. This image has a dark blue background, but once it's been saved as a TIF the shading is much lighter. For my purposes, the color needs to be exactly the same. Does anybody know how I can adjust that? Thanks.


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## Fjandr (Sep 26, 2012)

It's entirely possible you've got items inside the file using more than one colorization scheme (RGB and CMYK, for instance). Not all colors in each have an exact equivalence in the other, and so a conversion between the two may result in noticeable color changes. CMYK is preferred for print because it can be duplicated with a standard 4-color process, while RGB is preferred for electronic media.

To check if that's the case, open the Advanced menu and select Print Production. Then select Output Preview. Here you can show which objects are originally in CMYK and which are RGB. There are additional color tools within the same menu, this time under Convert Colors... Using this panel, you can convert both between color spaces of different types and targeting different output media within the same type (say, RGB for output onto coated paper instead of for output onto a color-calibrated monitor).

There are more detailed explanations of this particular facet of document coloring in the link below. Be aware that it is describing these techniques in terms of Acrobat 9, while my instructions are for Acrobat 8.

Acrobat 9: Output Preview and Color Conversion « Layers Magazine


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