Extract Images from PDF – Here are the Easy Methods to Get the Desired Photos
Last Updated on September 21, 2025 by Tina Clark
It is not difficult to get images from a PDF. You can either take snapshots or upload the PDF file to a PDF to image converter. But is there a method to extract images from PDF without resampling? When you need to preserve the original quality and file format of the photos, here you can find some workable methods to extract images from PDF from the article.
Part 1: The Ultimate Method to Extract Images from PDF
PDFelement is an all-in-one PDF converter, which enables you to extract images from PDF with the original quality. It not only copies the images from PDF without resampling but also converts PDF to JPG/PNG/TIFF. Moreover, you can also replace images, rotate the files within the PDF, and check the properties accordingly.
1. Extract the images from PDF with JPG, PNG, TIFF, BMP, and GIF formats.
2. Performance OCR features to turn image-based files into editable PDF files.
3. Edit images within the PDF, such as rotate, flip, replace, extract, delete, etc.
4. Copy the images from PDF or convert the PDF into an image within clicks.
Step 1: Once you have downloaded and installed PDFelement, you can launch it on your computer. Click the Open files button to choose the PDF file with the images you want to extract. Click Open to upload the PDF file into the program accordingly.
Step 2: Go to the Edit menu and enable the Edit mode from the formatting bar to further edit the PDF. It will turn some image-based PDFs into an editable PDF, which you can extract the images from PDF and edit the texts in the PDF file directly.
Step 3: Scroll down to the page with the image you want to extract. When you right-click the image, there are multiple editing features. Click Extract Image from the drop-down menu. There is a popup window to save and extract the images from the PDF file.
Step 4: Select the photo format and destination folder to save your images for the PDF file. Then, name the file at the bottom and choose the output format under the Save As Type option. Click the Save button at the bottom to save images from the PDF.
Part 2: How to Cut out Images from PDF with Snipping Tool
If you just need to extract one or few images from a PDF without a special requirement for the photo quality, Windows Snipping Tool is the built-in snipping program to cut out images from a PDF. Simply take screenshots of the objects and save them as images.
Step 1: You can press Windows + S keys to open the search bar in Windows. Type Snipping Tool in the search bar to open Windows Snipping Tool when the search result appears.
Step 2: Click the arrow next to the New button and select the Free-form snip option. Choose the frame for the image from the PDF and take a screenshot to extract the images from the PDF file.
Step 3: The screenshots of the PDF images will be automatically saved in the clipboard. Save the image in the folder from the clipboard by clicking the File option and choosing the Save As button.
Part 3: How to Extract Images from PDF via Photoshop
When you need to further extract and edit the images from PDF, Photoshop is a professional photo editor that supports both images and PDF files. This all-in-one solution not only copies the PDF image but also provides the features to edit them according to your requirements.
Step 1: Right-click your PDF file and select the Open With option from the drop-down menu. After that, you can choose the Adobe Photoshop option from the list.
Step 2: Select the Images button from the Import PDF dialog box. Choose the images you want to extract from the PDF with the Shift key. Click the OK button and select the desired images.
Step 3: Then, the chosen images will be opened in Photoshop. Press the Ctrl + S keys or click the File menu at the top, you can choose the Save to button to extract the image from PDF via Photoshop.
Part 4: How to Save Images from PDF with Preview
Preview is the default choice to extract images from PDFs on macOS. It is not only a PDF/image viewer but also enables you to bring images out of PDF files in a few clicks. You only need to select and copy images from the PDF and save the extracted PDF images.
Step 1: Right-click your PDF file in a Finder window and select Open With from the drop-down menu. After that, select the Preview app to open the PDF file you want to extract.
Step 2: Click the Show Markup Toolbar button and choose the selection tool, which allows you to select the image you want to extract from PDF files. Press Command + C to copy the selected image.
Step 3: When the desired image is copied, click the File menu at the top of the window and select New from Clipboard from the drop-down menu, which will create a new image file from the PDF.
Step 4: Click the File menu at the top of the window and select Save from the drop-down menu to save the extracted images to your local folder. After that, you can open the images from your Mac.
Conclusion
Here are 5 useful methods to extract images from PDF files. Whether you need to copy the images without resampling, or simply cut out the desired images, you can always get the desired choice from the article. If you need to get the photos with the original quality, further edit the PDF files, and replace the images for the PDF, PDFelement is the best choice you should not miss.