pdf2image
A wrapper around the pdftoppm and pdftocairo command line tools to convert PDF to a PIL Image list.
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you need reliable PDF-to-image conversion and can install poppler separately. The package is stable, permissively licensed, and has low install friction. Dormant maintenance is a minor concern for new projects, but the core functionality is mature and unlikely to break. Not suitable if you cannot install external system dependencies or need active development support.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires poppler (pdftoppm/pdftocairo) installed separately: on Windows via manual download, macOS via Homebrew, Linux via package manager, or conda for all platforms.
- Low install friction with a single runtime dependency (pillow).
- Dormant maintenance status since last release in January 2024, though the repository remains active with 1978 stars and no recent commits.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — MIT license permits free use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions, making it suitable for both open-source and commercial projects.
last release 2024-01-07 (950 days) · last repo commit 2024-07-23 · 1,978 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 23,330,481 downloads/mo, #951 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install pdf2image
from pdf2image import convert_from_path
images = convert_from_path('/path/to/example.pdf')
# images is a list of PIL Image objects, one per page- Whether dormant maintenance (last release 950 days ago) affects compatibility with recent Python or dependency versions.
- Performance characteristics and memory usage patterns for large PDFs in production environments.
- Current status of the DocuSign PDF reading issue mentioned in known limitations.
What it is and what it does
pdf2image is a Python wrapper around the poppler command-line tools (pdftoppm and pdftocairo) that converts PDF documents into PIL Image objects. It takes a PDF file—either from a file path or raw bytes—and returns a list of images, one for each page, which you can then process, save, or display using standard Python image libraries.
The package handles the complexity of calling external poppler binaries and managing temporary files, while exposing parameters for controlling output quality (DPI), format (PPM, JPEG, PNG), page ranges, grayscale conversion, and image sizing. It requires poppler to be installed separately on your system; the installation process differs by platform (Windows, macOS, Linux, or conda). The package is stable and widely used (top 1000 on PyPI with 23 million monthly downloads), though maintenance is dormant as of mid-2024.
Use it for
- Extract individual pages from a multi-page PDF as separate image files for archival or display.
- Convert scanned PDF documents to images for OCR preprocessing or document analysis pipelines.
- Generate thumbnails or preview images from PDF documents in a web application.
- Batch convert large numbers of PDFs to JPEG or PNG format for downstream processing.
- Extract specific page ranges from a PDF as images without loading the entire document into memory (using paths_only parameter).
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you need reliable PDF-to-image conversion and can install poppler separately.
The package is stable, permissively licensed, and has low install friction. Dormant maintenance is a minor concern for new projects, but the core functionality is mature and unlikely to break. Not suitable if you cannot install external system dependencies or need active development support.
Install
pdf2image on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction with a single runtime dependency (pillow). Dormant maintenance status since last release in January 2024, though the repository remains active with 1978 stars and no recent commits.
Requires poppler (pdftoppm/pdftocairo) installed separately: on Windows via manual download, macOS via Homebrew, Linux via package manager, or conda for all platforms.
License in practice
MIT license permits free use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions, making it suitable for both open-source and commercial projects.
Quickstart
pip install pdf2image
from pdf2image import convert_from_path
images = convert_from_path('/path/to/example.pdf')
# images is a list of PIL Image objects, one per pageVerify before relying
- Whether dormant maintenance (last release 950 days ago) affects compatibility with recent Python or dependency versions.
- Performance characteristics and memory usage patterns for large PDFs in production environments.
- Current status of the DocuSign PDF reading issue mentioned in known limitations.
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Not specified |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 1 packagepillow |
| Maintenance | Dormant 950 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 23,330,481 / month, #951 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableIntended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.7Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9 |
Evidence: pdf2image-1.17.0-py3-none-any.whl
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See also img2pdf · wkhtmltopdf · rlPyCairo · fpdf · python-resize-image · pdftotext · PyPDF2 · pypdftk · pypng · sphinxcontrib-svg2pdfconverter