---
name: "pdftopng"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "xpdf"
version: "4.06-2"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/pdftopng"
---

# pdftopng(1)

Portable Document Format (PDF) to Portable Network Graphics (PNG) converter (version 4.06)

## NAME

pdftopng - Portable Document Format (PDF) to Portable Network Graphics (PNG) converter (version 4.06)

## SYNOPSIS

**pdftopng** \[options\] *PDF-file PNG-root*

## DESCRIPTION

**Pdftopng** converts Portable Document Format (PDF) files to color, grayscale, or monochrome image files in Portable Network Graphics (PNG) format.

Pdftopng reads the PDF file, *PDF-file*, and writes one PNG file for each page, *PNG-root*-*nnnnnn*.png, where *nnnnnn* is the page number. If *PNG-root* is ´-', the image is sent to stdout (this is probably only useful when converting a single page).

## CONFIGURATION FILE

Pdftopng reads a configuration file at startup.  It first tries to find the user's private config file, ~/.xpdfrc.  If that doesn't exist, it looks for a system-wide config file, typically /etc/xpdfrc (but this location can be changed when pdftopng is built).  See the [**xpdfrc**(5)](/xpdfrc/5.md) man page for details.

## OPTIONS

Many of the following options can be set with configuration file commands.  These are listed in square brackets with the description of the corresponding command line option.

- **-f** *number*

  Specifies the first page to convert.

- **-l** *number*

  Specifies the last page to convert.

- **-r** *number*

  Specifies the resolution, in DPI.  The default is 150 DPI.

- **-mono**

  Generate a monochrome image (instead of a color image).

- **-gray**

  Generate a grayscale image (instead of a color image).

- **-alpha**

  Generate an alpha channel in the PNG file.  This is only useful with PDF files that have been constructed with a transparent background. The -alpha flag cannot be used with -mono.

- **-rot** *angle*

  Rotate pages by 0 (the default), 90, 180, or 270 degrees.

- **-freetype** *yes \| no*

  Enable or disable FreeType (a TrueType / Type 1 font rasterizer). This defaults to "yes". \[config file: **enableFreeType**\]

- **-aa** *yes \| no*

  Enable or disable font anti-aliasing.  This defaults to "yes". \[config file: **antialias**\]

- **-aaVector** *yes \| no*

  Enable or disable vector anti-aliasing.  This defaults to "yes". \[config file: **vectorAntialias**\]

- **-opw** *password*

  Specify the owner password for the PDF file.  Providing this will bypass all security restrictions.

- **-upw** *password*

  Specify the user password for the PDF file.

- **-verbose**

  Print a status message (to stdout) before processing each page. \[config file: **printStatusInfo**\]

- **-q**

  Don't print any messages or errors. \[config file: **errQuiet**\]

- **-cfg** *config-file*

  Read *config-file* in place of ~/.xpdfrc or the system-wide config file.

- **-v**

  Print copyright and version information.

- **-h**

  Print usage information. (**-help** and **--help** are equivalent.)

## EXIT CODES

The Xpdf tools use the following exit codes:

- 0

  No error.

- 1

  Error opening a PDF file.

- 2

  Error opening an output file.

- 3

  Error related to PDF permissions.

- 98

  Out of memory.

- 99

  Other error.

## AUTHOR

The pdftopng software and documentation are copyright 1996-2025 Glyph & Cog, LLC.

## SEE ALSO

[**xpdf**(1)](/xpdf/1.md), [**pdftops**(1)](/pdftops/1.md), [**pdftotext**(1)](/pdftotext/1.md), [**pdftohtml**(1)](/pdftohtml/1.md), [**pdfinfo**(1)](/pdfinfo/1.md), [**pdffonts**(1)](/pdffonts/1.md), [**pdfdetach**(1)](/pdfdetach/1.md), [**pdftoppm**(1)](/pdftoppm/1.md), [**pdfimages**(1)](/pdfimages/1.md), [**xpdfrc**(5)](/xpdfrc/5.md)\
 **http://www.xpdfreader.com/**