Extract images from PDFs
Choose between recovering embedded pictures, rendering pages and taking a quick screenshot.
PDF Extractor
iLovePDF
PreviewThe short answer
For separate pictures, choose embedded-image extraction; for a page including captions, choose rendering; for editable text and pictures, choose document conversion instead. PDF Extractor 1.02 describes all content-recovery formats on Mac, iPhone and iPad, but this page does not claim a new Mac test.
Which app fits your job?
PDF Extractor
macOS · iPhone · iPadReuse PDF content on Mac, iPhone and iPad
Consider PDF Extractor 1.02 for focused content reuse rather than a full PDF editor. It describes local conversion and OCR with a one-time full-access purchase. Try a representative file before upgrading; our earlier version 1.01 iPhone image sample does not establish version 1.02 conversion quality or Mac behavior.
The tradeoff: Content recovery, not full PDF editing; check the saved conversion and keep the original. Earlier alpha-loss findings concern version 1.01 only.
Free limited use · one-time full-access purchase, no subscription
US listing · provider-described access · 2026-10-24 · Plan details & source
Explore PDF Extractor →iLovePDF
iPhone · iPad · WebExtract pictures as part of a PDF toolkit
Choose it when image extraction sits alongside merging, splitting and conversion. The iPhone follow-up recovered the three unique pictures as JPGs.
The tradeoff: JPG changes pixels and cannot retain transparency. Free tasks have limits; batch-sharing options are not yet established.
Free tier · Premium $5.49/month or $44.99/year
US App Store · USD · 2026-10-18 · Plan details & source
Explore iLovePDF →Preview
macOS · iPhone · iPadTry the included Mac tool first
For ordinary viewing, annotation and page operations, start with the tool already on your Mac before installing a larger PDF suite.
The tradeoff: This profile covers Mac Preview, not feature parity with the iPhone edition.
Included with macOS
Apple documentation · included software · 2026-10-18 · Plan details & source
Explore Preview →Editorial selection advice based on the linked product documentation, attributed feedback and any explicitly labeled test results—not a universal winner.
See the apps, not just the feature list
Developer-published product images. Captions identify the platform and source; these are not our test captures.
PDF Extractor
Historical version 1.01 image-extraction interface; not a version 1.02 conversion or Mac screenshot.
iLovePDF
Preview
Apple documentation image; interface depends on macOS version.
What reviewers and users say
Our summaries of linked accounts—not our own experience or a vote-based ranking. Older versions and different platforms are labeled. Sources reviewed October 18, 2026.
App Store · mbbrrr
US listing · Feb 15, 2025 · version not stated
A reviewer found assembly useful but criticized OCR output and the small free allowance.
Read in context: An older, mixed app/platform account—not a current iPhone image-extraction result. The developer replied that free tasks renew daily.
App Store · @twohouseandoneboy
US listing · Jan 13, 2021 · historical
A student valued the service for schoolwork and wanted free access to continue.
Read in context: This describes an app/site experience during remote schooling, not today’s mobile feature limits.
Macworld · Chris Barylick
May 24, 2022 · Preview 11 / macOS Monterey 12.4
Barylick finds the included Preview useful for everyday forms, signatures and basic PDF changes before considering an Acrobat upgrade.
Read in context: A historical Mac comparison. Its old prices and format limitations are not current facts or evidence about iPhone Preview.
No third-party evaluation of PDF Extractor’s exact image-extraction task is included in this selection. Our own sample is described separately from third-party accounts.
PDF Extractor · External coverage: We searched the exact product name and App Store ID on October 18, 2026. No suitable independent evaluation of this image-extraction workflow was located for this edition. Store facts and our small, separately labeled iPhone sample are available; this is a coverage gap, not evidence of broad approval or disapproval.
How to read disagreement
Different opinions can reflect different jobs, versions, devices or paid plans. We do not call a few comments “the consensus.” A consequential factual conflict that remains after checking those differences is a candidate for a focused hands-on test. A preference for one interface over another usually is not.
Compare your options
| Approach | Intended result | Tradeoff | Evidence boundary |
|---|---|---|---|
| PDF Extractor 1.02 · Mac / iPhone / iPad | Selected embedded pictures; separate editable-document conversion is also documented | Up to 20 supported images to try; one-time Full Access. Current transparency behavior not retested. | Current listing plus separately labeled historical 1.01 iPhone observations |
| iLovePDF web extraction | Embedded images exported as JPG | Upload interface; original format/alpha not established | Official web extraction selector |
| Page conversion or screenshot | A view of the page or selected region | Not original embedded-image recovery | Different output: a rendered page, not its embedded source images |
Choose pictures, page images or editable documents
Embedded-image extraction retrieves pictures separately. Page rendering preserves the visible page as an image. Word, Markdown, HTML and RTF conversion produces content for another editor; it is a different result, not an image-quality upgrade.
Version 1.02, released October 23, 2026, adds Word (.docx), Markdown, HTML and RTF conversion and documents Mac, iPhone and iPad support. The listing describes local processing and on-device OCR. Earlier iPhone image-extraction results below concern version 1.01, not a new conversion or Mac test.
Access and platform boundaries
The version 1.02 listing allows up to 20 supported embedded-image exports before full access, and a three-page document-conversion allowance. Full Access is described as a one-time purchase without subscription. Confirm the current amount locally.
Mac support does not retroactively validate an iPhone screenshot or establish identical controls, purchase restoration or automatic file synchronization. Browser-based tools may upload files; a provider’s local-processing claim is not an independent privacy audit.
Keep the earlier evidence in its proper scope
Our October 18 iPhone sample used PDF Extractor 1.01 and iLovePDF 4.1.0. It showed transparency loss in the returned exports. This limitation is retained below; without another run we cannot claim version 1.02 fixes it.
If your priority is an editable document, use the PDF-to-Word task and its guides. No same-file Word-conversion benchmark is claimed.
Our small-sample findings
Both apps recovered the three unique pictures. PDF Extractor saved PNGs to Photos; iLovePDF returned JPGs. Neither preserved the transparent sample. These findings apply to this iPhone run, not every PDF.
Read the test results, method and limitations
PDF Extractor 1.01 returned four PNGs; iLovePDF 4.1.0 successfully returned three JPGs in the follow-up. The fixture contains three unique raster assets placed four times, so three outputs are consistent with resource deduplication, not a missing unique picture. Both retained the sample dimensions; neither returned transparency. PDF Extractor matched the RGB/scan reference pixels, while iLovePDF JPG pixels differed. This limited sample is not an overall ranking; no comparative winner is established.
Known limitation: transparency was not preserved in this saved output. The input contains an RGBA image and a PDF soft mask; the returned 320 × 320 PNG is RGB, with every decoded alpha value equal to 255. We have not isolated whether the loss occurred during extraction, saving to Photos or subsequent transfer. Do not describe this path as lossless for transparent images.
PDF Extractor: returned PNGs
| Sample | Returned dimensions | Observed result |
|---|---|---|
| Repeated RGB picture | 640 × 480, twice | Both returned PNGs match the reference RGB pixels and dimensions. Their file hashes also match each other. |
| Transparency sample | 320 × 320 | Transparency not preserved: returned PNG is RGB, not RGBA. Color channels match, but the alpha channel is absent. |
| Synthetic scanned image | 800 × 1100 | Returned PNG matches the reference RGB pixels and dimensions. |
| Vector-only page | No raster picture expected | No additional vector-chart picture appears among the four returned exports. This is not a missing embedded raster image. |
Workflow and access
The PDF Extractor recording begins with the test PDF already open. It shows image selection, saving four images to Photos, the photo-add permission prompt and opening a saved result. No purchase prompt is visible in this run; the tester reports no paid entitlement. This demonstrates this four-image save only—not an unlimited free allowance or a verified import walkthrough.
iLovePDF: successful follow-up, three unique images
The first import attempt was blocked, but the follow-up recording shows importing the fixture through Documents, choosing PDF to JPG → Extract images, and completing extraction. Three JPGs were returned: 640 × 480, 320 × 320 and 800 × 1100. All three unique raster assets are represented; the repeated placement is not a fourth unique image. This is consistent with deduplication, not proof of a missing picture.
The JPGs retain those dimensions but do not match the reference pixels exactly. JPG output does not preserve alpha transparency. The recording shows one free task remaining out of two for that day after completion; this is an observed counter, not a guarantee of future pricing or allowances.
Sharing friction (tester-reported): saving to Photos was not straightforward, and the tester appeared to need individual AirDrop transfers to the Mac. The supplied recording ends at the results list; it does not demonstrate the sharing attempts or rule out a batch-share option. Batch saving and sharing remain unverified—not established as unsupported.
Device, method and remaining limits
iPhone Air · iOS 27.0.1 (tester-reported). App versions supplied by the tester: PDF Extractor 1.01; iLovePDF 4.1.0. The results apply to the supplied sample and recorded workflow.
We inspected the initial recordings, the successful iLovePDF follow-up, four returned PNGs and three returned JPGs. Comparisons use decoded pixels, not file size or thumbnail appearance. The table above describes PDF Extractor outputs; the iLovePDF findings are separately described below it. The two repeated RGB outputs are intentional placements of one source image, not two distinct source assets. Pixel equality here does not imply identical file encoding, metadata or color-profile behavior.
The recording visually identifies our four-page synthetic fixture, but no input PDF was returned for a byte-level identity check. The controlled reference has three raster assets placed four times, plus a vector-only page. These findings concern this sample and save path only.
Still untested: iPad, batch-sharing options, other save/share destinations, broader free limits, large and protected PDFs, offline operation and network traffic. No speed benchmark or privacy certification is claimed. Raw recordings are not published because they include personal gallery content.
Limitations & considerations
- The October 18 image evidence concerns PDF Extractor 1.01 on iPhone. Its returned transparency sample lost alpha. Version 1.02 has not been retested for this issue; do not claim it is fixed or unchanged.
- Word/OCR quality, complex tables, reading order and layout fidelity have not been benchmarked. Reflowed output is editable content, not a guarantee of matching page composition.
- Mac availability and local processing are described by the provider, not independently verified. Check Mac system requirements and purchase eligibility; no Intel support, automatic sync or cross-device purchase-restoration guarantee is established here.
- The stated free allowances and one-time purchase come from the version 1.02 description. Confirm the current local checkout amount and access before a large export; the older $2.99 listing is not a newly verified price.
- PDF Extractor: The October 18 image evidence concerns PDF Extractor 1.01 on iPhone. Its returned transparency sample lost alpha. Version 1.02 has not been retested for this issue; do not claim it is fixed or unchanged.
- iLovePDF: The supplied extraction sample produced JPGs: dimensions were retained, but pixels changed and transparency was absent.
- Preview: Mac and mobile Preview have different controls and system requirements; the linked Mac instructions do not establish mobile feature parity.
Documented features, attributed opinions and explicitly labeled hands-on observations are different kinds of evidence. We do not infer unmeasured performance or privacy guarantees.
Sources & scope
Reviewed October 24, 2026. These are provider-published sources; listings and feature access can change. The separate first-round observations above use supplied recordings, four PNGs and three JPGs, with known transparency limitations and unverified batch-sharing options.
- PDF Extractor — App Store
Developer description, screenshots, compatibility and privacy declaration; not independent testing.
- iLovePDF web PDF to JPG
Web interface explicitly separates whole-page conversion from embedded-image extraction as JPG.
- Preview user guide for Mac
Mac documentation; do not assume identical iPhone/iPad controls.
- PDF Extractor 1.02 · live Apple metadata
Checked October 24, 2026; released October 23. Documents Word (.docx), Markdown, HTML and RTF conversion, local OCR, Mac/iPhone/iPad support and specific free allowances. Provider statements, not a new device benchmark.
