Convert PDF to PNG on Mac

Design review in Figma wants each slide as PNG. A report chart must land in Notion without JPEG banding on gradient backgrounds. Convert PDF to PNG on Mac keeps text and vector edges sharper than JPEG for the same page. The tradeoff is file size: raw PNG exports from slide decks are heavy until you resize for screen width. Export locally so embargoed decks never upload to online splitters.

A forty-slide deck exported at full resolution can produce a folder of PNG files that exceeds email limits. Always run a width cap before share.

When PNG beats JPEG from PDF

Use case	Typical PNG output
UI or slide review	1920 px wide PNG
Chart with thin lines	PNG, then optional JPEG
Photo-heavy page	Consider PDF to JPG on Mac instead
Email attachment	Often too large until resize

PNG is lossless for each export pass. Still apply the display-size rule: export at the width the image will appear, not print resolution.

For mixed workflows see PDF to images on Mac . To merge pages back, see PNG to PDF on Mac .

Page content	Format note
Flat color UI	PNG stays crisp
Photos	JPEG may be smaller
Thin chart lines	PNG avoids JPEG artifacts

Export one page in Preview

1. Open the PDF in Preview.
2. Select the page in the sidebar.
3. File → Export…
4. Format PNG, save.

Repeat for each page you need. Three pages is fine in Preview; forty slides needs pdftoppm.

Manual method	Best for
Preview export	One chart or slide
Preview sidebar crop	Social aspect ratio on one page
pdftoppm	Whole deck batch

Zoom to 100% on one export before batching the deck.

Preview uses embedded resolution inside the PDF, often larger than web needs. Check one export at 100% zoom before batching.

Batch export with pdftoppm

Open Terminal. Install poppler through Homebrew (install Homebrew first if brew is not found):

brew install poppler
pdftoppm -png deck.pdf deck-page

Creates deck-page-1.png, deck-page-2.png, etc.

Page subset:

pdftoppm -png -f 2 -l 10 deck.pdf deck-page

Unlock password PDF files in Preview before pdftoppm.

Convert PNG to JPEG later with sips when one recipient needs smaller files:

sips -s format jpeg -s formatOptions 85 deck-page-3.png --out deck-page-3.jpg

See PNG to JPG on Mac for batch JPEG conversion after review finishes.

Use zero-padded names (page-01.png) so CMS galleries sort correctly.

Resize PNG pages after export

sips -Z 1920 deck-page-*.png

FFmpeg alternative:

mkdir web
for f in deck-page-*.png; do
  ffmpeg -i "$f" -vf scale=1920:-2 "web/${f%.png}-1920.png"
done

See how to compress images on Mac when the resized folder still blocks upload.

Move resized files to web/ so full-resolution exports stay available for print review.

Symptom	Fix
PNG still too large	Lower width cap to 1600 px
Thin lines look soft	Export at higher resolution, then resize
Mixed photo and chart slides	JPEG for photos, PNG for charts

Scanned PDF pages may export cleaner after deskew in the scan app.

Using GetCompress

GetCompress does not split PDF pages. Export with Preview or pdftoppm, then compress the PNG folder.

• Max width presets across all slide PNG files.
• Preview thin lines before batch upload.
• Convert selected pages to JPEG or WebP when size caps require it.
• Local processing for confidential decks.
• PNG and JPEG presets when you need smaller page exports.

When only some pages are photo-heavy, export those as JPEG via PDF to JPG on Mac and keep chart slides as PNG.

GetCompress does not split PDF pages. Export with Preview or pdftoppm first, then GetCompress for consistent delivery sizing across the whole deck. When a portal rejects the first upload, tweak quality once in the saved preset rather than re-exporting from PDF unless the source deck changed.

Keep full-resolution PNG exports until stakeholders approve cropped versions for web publish.