Is PNG or JPG better for PDF pages?

PNG for pages led by text, tables, diagrams, or screenshots, because it keeps edges perfectly sharp. JPG for pages dominated by photographs, where it produces far smaller files with no visible loss.

How much bigger are PNG exports?

It depends on the page. In our testing a text page was only about 1.1× the size of the JPG, while a photographic page was around 6× larger. Text pages cost little; photo pages cost a lot.

Why does text look fuzzy in my exported JPG?

JPG compression discards fine detail, and the sharp boundary between black text and white paper is exactly that kind of detail. It shows up as a faint haze around letters. Export as PNG instead.

Can I still search the text after exporting?

No. Both formats turn the page into an image, so the text is no longer selectable, searchable, or readable by screen readers. Keep the original PDF if that matters.

What resolution should I export at?

2× suits most documents and slides. Use 3× only when the page has small print people will zoom into, and 1× for quick previews. Resolution affects file size more than the format choice does.

Which format should I use for a scanned document?

If it's scanned text, PNG keeps the letters sharper. If it's a scanned photograph, JPG is the better fit and much smaller.

PDF to PNG or JPG: Which Should You Export?

Updated August 30, 2026

Both tools turn PDF pages into images, and the right one depends entirely on what's printed on the page. The size penalty for choosing PNG is far smaller than most people expect on text — and far larger than they expect on photos.

The short answer

Pages of text, tables, diagrams, screenshots, charts, or code → PDF to PNG. Pages dominated by photographs → PDF to JPG.

If you're unsure, look at the page and ask whether it's mostly drawn or mostly photographed. Drawn content has hard edges, and hard edges are exactly what JPG handles worst.

Why the choice matters at all

JPG compresses by discarding detail your eye is unlikely to miss. That works beautifully on photographs, where colour changes gradually. It works badly on a sharp black letter against white paper, because the abrupt edge is precisely the kind of detail the compression throws away — the result is a faint grey haze around text, sometimes called mosquito noise.

PNG is lossless: every pixel survives exactly. Letters stay crisp, table rules stay hairline-thin, and a chart's gridlines don't blur. The price is file size — except, as it turns out, on the pages where you most want PNG.

What the size difference actually is

We exported the same A4 page both ways at 2× resolution, with JPG at its default 90% quality, and measured the output:

Page content	As PNG	As JPG	PNG is
A page of body text	≈300 KB	≈270 KB	1.1× larger
A full-page photograph	≈1.4 MB	≈240 KB	6× larger

The counterintuitive part

Most comparisons tell you PNG files are much larger, full stop. On a text page that simply isn't true. Text pages are mostly flat white with a small amount of black, and PNG's compression is very efficient at exactly that — so you get lossless, perfectly sharp text for roughly a tenth more file size. Choosing JPG there saves almost nothing and costs you edge quality.

On a photograph the usual advice holds, and then some: six times the size for no visible benefit, because a photo has no hard edges for PNG to protect.

Your own numbers will differ with resolution, page design, and quality setting — the pattern is what matters, not the exact figures.

Choose PNG when

The page is a document, report, contract, or form — anything text-led.
You're putting a page into a slide deck where it will be projected or zoomed.
The page has diagrams, charts, tables, or line art with fine rules.
It's a screenshot, a UI mockup, or code.
The image will be re-saved or edited later — lossless means no accumulating damage.

Choose JPG when

The page is dominated by photographs.
You need many pages and total size matters — email, upload limits, a web gallery.
You're posting to social platforms, which re-compress everything anyway.
The page is a scanned photograph rather than scanned text.

Resolution matters more than format

Whichever you pick, the resolution setting moves file size far more than the format does. 1× matches the PDF's own page size and suits quick previews; 2× is the sensible default for slides and documents on modern screens; 3× is for pages with small print people will zoom into, and grows files quickly.

A common mistake is exporting at 3× to fix blurry text when the real problem was JPG compression on a text page. Switching to PNG at 2× usually looks better and weighs less than JPG at 3×.

What both formats give up

Either way the page becomes a picture, so its text stops being selectable, searchable, and readable by screen readers. That's inherent to exporting pages as images, not a limitation of one format. If the words themselves matter, keep the PDF and send that instead — or send only the pages you need by extracting them first.

Both tools render pages in your browser, so a confidential document is never uploaded in the process.

Common questions

Is PNG or JPG better for PDF pages?: PNG for pages led by text, tables, diagrams, or screenshots, because it keeps edges perfectly sharp. JPG for pages dominated by photographs, where it produces far smaller files with no visible loss.
How much bigger are PNG exports?: It depends on the page. In our testing a text page was only about 1.1× the size of the JPG, while a photographic page was around 6× larger. Text pages cost little; photo pages cost a lot.
Why does text look fuzzy in my exported JPG?: JPG compression discards fine detail, and the sharp boundary between black text and white paper is exactly that kind of detail. It shows up as a faint haze around letters. Export as PNG instead.
Can I still search the text after exporting?: No. Both formats turn the page into an image, so the text is no longer selectable, searchable, or readable by screen readers. Keep the original PDF if that matters.
What resolution should I export at?: 2× suits most documents and slides. Use 3× only when the page has small print people will zoom into, and 1× for quick previews. Resolution affects file size more than the format choice does.
Which format should I use for a scanned document?: If it's scanned text, PNG keeps the letters sharper. If it's a scanned photograph, JPG is the better fit and much smaller.