If small text is unreadable after a 300 dpi export, distinguish output pixels from detail actually present in the PDF. Rendering a blurred scan at a larger size is not the same as scanning the paper again.
Inspect the source first
Adobe explains that upsampling estimates additional pixels and cannot add detail absent from the original image. Open the PDF and zoom into the same word that looks blurred in the output.
| Observation | Our suggested next step |
|---|---|
| Text is already blurred in the PDF | Request a clearer source or scan again |
| PDF text is sharp but the exported image is too small | Try a higher rendering resolution |
| JPEG adds visible artifacts around letters | Try PNG from the original PDF |
Keep the source file for comparison rather than judging it through a copy passed between several apps.
Use the export controls
FileMyLove's PDF-to-image tool offers 72, 150 and 300 dpi. These settings control the page-rendering scale, rather than merely relabelling an existing image. Large pages may be rendered at a reduced scale to fit the device's memory budget; the tool reports that reduction.
- Choose the source PDF and PNG or JPG.
- Try 150 dpi and inspect small text in the download.
- If the source has more detail to preserve, compare a 300 dpi export.
- Check file size and readability in the actual delivery channel.
Treat 150 dpi as a starting point, not a universal sufficiency rule. Selecting 300 dpi does not guarantee that every device can render every page at that scale.
PNG has limits too
PNG preserves the rendered pixels without lossy compression. It does not retain the unlimited scaling of PDF text or vector lines, nor repair a poor scan. If important names or amounts remain unreadable, our recommendation is to request a clearer copy rather than guess. OCR output is not proof that the underlying text was read correctly.
See the PDF-to-JPG/PNG guide for the general workflow. Rendering runs in your browser without uploading the document.
