Mark Stephens Mark has been working with Java and PDF since 1999 and is a big NetBeans fan. He enjoys speaking at conferences. He has an MA in Medieval History and a passion for reading.

How to Rasterize PDF files in Java (Tutorial)

45 sec read

Convert PDF to Image

In this tutorial we show you how to rasterize a PDF file into an image in Java. You will need an external library to do this – this example uses our JPedal PDF library.

How to Rasterize a PDF file in Java

  1. Download a trial copy of JPedal and add it to your IDE.
  2. Create a File handle, InputStream or URL pointing to the PDF file
  3. Include a password if file password protected
  4. Open the PDF file
  5. Iterate over the pages
  6. Close the PDF file

and the Java code to rasterize PDF…

What is rasterizing a PDF file?

When you rasterize a PDF file, you convert the pages of the document into raster image files. Rasterizing the file stops editing and removes the need for a PDF viewer to show the pages. This makes it simpler to view. The disadvantage of a raster based image is that you lose all the features of the PDF file and Viewer, and have all the limitations of a bitmap display.



The JPedal PDF library allows you to solve these problems in Java


Mark Stephens Mark has been working with Java and PDF since 1999 and is a big NetBeans fan. He enjoys speaking at conferences. He has an MA in Medieval History and a passion for reading.