Rasterize a PDF

How it works

1. Drop a PDF onto the box, or choose it from your device.
2. Choose colour, grayscale, or black and white for pages of text and line drawings.
3. Choose the resolution: 200 dpi is sharp on screen and on paper, 300 dpi for print work, 150 dpi for the smallest file.
4. Select Rasterize PDF and download the new PDF. Each page keeps its original size.

Frequently asked questions

What changes when a PDF is rasterized?

Each page becomes one image. The text can no longer be selected, searched or copied, links and form fields stop working, and the file is usually larger than the original. What stays is exactly how each page looks, which is the point when a printer or a submission system mis-draws fonts or transparency.

Does this protect my PDF from being copied?

Only from casual copying. Text can no longer be selected, but anyone can still take a screenshot, and text recognition reads a rasterized page back into text in seconds. To keep a file closed, protect it with a password; to take something out of it for good, redact it.

Which resolution should I choose?

200 dpi reads well on any screen and prints cleanly. 300 dpi is what print shops ask for and makes the largest file. 150 dpi is enough for reading on screen when the file must be small.

When should I use black and white?

For pages of text, forms and line drawings. Each page is split into ink and paper at the level that suits that page, which gives crisp, small files. Photographs lose their shades in black and white; use grayscale for those.

Is the PDF uploaded, and what are the free limits?

It is not uploaded: each page is drawn in your browser and the new PDF is built here. The free plan takes one PDF of up to 20 MB per run, 10 runs a day, and adds a small "Made with nouplo.com" line to the last page. Pro removes the line and the limits.