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Convert PDF to Images using Python

· 2 min read
Zephyr
Zephyr
Engineer

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Cover Image: Automatically generated by GPT-4 after reading this article.

In daily office tasks or academic endeavors, whether it's for conveniently sharing information or integrating document content into presentations, there's often a need to convert PDF files into image formats.

Here, we recommend a handy Python module: pdf2image, which can convert PDF files into PIL images.

This tutorial will guide you on how to install and use this package.

Install Dependencies​

pdf2image relies on pdftoppm and pdftocairo, and installation varies slightly across different operating systems:

  • Mac: Install Poppler via Homebrew: brew install poppler.
  • Linux: Most Linux distributions come pre-installed with pdftoppm and pdftocairo. If not, install poppler-utils via your package manager.
  • Using conda: Poppler can be installed via conda on any platform: conda install -c conda-forge poppler, then proceed to install pdf2image.

Install pdf2image​

First, you need to install pdf2image. Enter the following command in your terminal to install:

pip install pdf2image

Convert PDF using pdf2image​

Converting PDF to images is straightforward:

from pdf2image import convert_from_path

images = convert_from_path('/path/to/your/pdf/file.pdf')

This will convert each page of the PDF into a PIL image object and store them in the images list.

You can also convert PDF from binary data:

images = convert_from_bytes(open('/path/to/your/pdf/file.pdf', 'rb').read())

Optional Parameters​

pdf2image provides extensive optional parameters, allowing you to customize DPI, output format, page ranges, etc. For example: use dpi=300 to enhance the clarity of the output images, or use first_page and last_page to specify the conversion range.

You can refer to the official documentation of pdf2image; or check our own modified pdf2imgs function for more usage examples.

Conclusion​

pdf2image is a powerful and easy-to-use tool that meets your needs for converting PDF to images. Whether it's for document processing, data organization, or content presentation, it provides an efficient solution.

We hope this tutorial helps you grasp the usage of pdf2image effortlessly, enhancing your work and study efficiency.