BMP to PDF Converter
BMP files store every pixel with little or no compression, so a single screenshot can weigh several megabytes. Turning bitmaps into a PDF compresses them and puts them on printable pages in one go.
Image to PDF
or drop JPG, JPEG, JFIF … files here ·
Max 95 MB per file· Up to 50 files· Deleted after 30 minutes
Files are processed on our servers and deleted after 30 minutes.
White space around each image: small is 5 mm, medium 10 mm, large 20 mm. Ignored when page size is the same as the image.
Fit shows the whole image with white space if the shapes differ; fill covers the page and crops the edges; actual size places it at its print size from DPI.
Put 2 or 4 images on each page in a grid, for ID cards front and back or contact sheets.
Custom page width in millimetres (A4 is 210 mm).
Custom page height in millimetres (A4 is 297 mm).
One PDF with a page per image, or a separate PDF for every image downloaded as a ZIP.
The order you added the files (drag to rearrange), alphabetical by file name, or by the date the photo was taken.
JPEG quality of photos inside the PDF. 85 keeps them sharp; with a target size this is the starting point.
How to use this tool
- 1
Upload the BMP files
Add up to 50 .bmp images, 95 MB each. Because bitmaps are big, a folder of exports from an instrument or an old drive uploads faster in a few batches.
- 2
Check page and order
Pages start as A4 with a small margin, and Page order is set to File name so numbered exports such as scan_001.bmp stay in sequence. Choose Letter for US paper.
- 3
Convert to PDF
Press Convert to PDF and download one document with a page per bitmap. Uploads and the result are deleted after 30 minutes.
What is the quickest way to convert BMP to PDF?
Upload the .bmp files, keep A4 or choose Letter, and press Convert to PDF. The bitmaps are compressed as they are placed, so the PDF is usually far smaller than the originals.
Why BMP files are so big
6.2 MBa 1920 × 1080 screenshot saved as a 24-bit BMP
BMP, also called a device-independent bitmap or DIB, dates back to the early versions of Windows and OS/2. It was designed to be simple to read and write, not small. The common 24-bit variant stores a blue, green and red byte for each pixel, and each row is padded to a multiple of 4 bytes. The format does define run-length compression, but only for 4-bit and 8-bit images, and most programs never use it.
That simplicity is why bitmaps still turn up. Older versions of Microsoft Paint saved .bmp by default, many microscope cameras, lab instruments and machine-vision systems export it, and some scanner utilities offer it as the first choice. The files open fine on Windows but are awkward to send: a dozen screenshots can pass the size limit of an email or an upload form.
BMP
Bitmap image
BMP is Microsoft's device-independent bitmap format, native to Windows since its early versions. It usually stores pixels uncompressed, so quality is perfect but files are very large compared with PNG or JPEG. Newer BMP versions can hold an alpha channel, but many programs ignore it. The format is simple to read and write, which keeps it alive in older software, embedded systems and some industrial tools. Windows, macOS and nearly every image editor can open BMP files.
- Compression
- Lossless
- Transparency
- Yes
- Animation
- No
- Introduced
- Microsoft
Portable Document Format
PDF was created by Adobe in 1993 and became the open ISO 32000 standard in 2008. It fixes text, fonts, images and layout so a document looks the same on every screen and printer. PDFs can contain forms, signatures, links, attachments and searchable text, and the PDF/A variant is used for long-term archiving. The fixed layout makes PDFs hard to edit, and scanned PDFs contain only images unless OCR is applied. Every browser and operating system can open them.
- Compression
- –
- Transparency
- Yes
- Animation
- No
- Introduced
- 1993 · Adobe
BMP is a bulky, uncompressed Windows bitmap that many email filters, portals and phones handle badly, so people wrap it in a compressed PDF page to send or print it; PDF to BMP is a niche request from legacy software that only reads bitmaps.
What changes when a bitmap becomes a PDF page
Each bitmap is compressed with JPEG at the Image quality you set, 85 by default, and placed on the page with Image on page set to Fit, so nothing is cropped. Screenshots with small text stay readable at that setting; for diagrams with thin lines, raise it to 95. The pixels you see do not change size, only the way they are stored.
Bitmaps from scanners often come as a numbered series, which is why this page sorts by file name. If you are digitizing paper and still choosing a scan format, our guide to scanning documents to PDF explains which settings keep files small from the start. For archives that will be kept for years, tick PDF/A (archive) under Advanced settings.
BMP to PDF questions
Why is a BMP file so large compared with a JPG of the same picture?
A typical 24-bit BMP keeps three bytes for every pixel and does not compress them, while JPEG throws away detail the eye barely notices and packs the rest. For photos and screenshots the difference is usually more than ten to one.
How much smaller will my BMP to PDF result be?
It depends on the content, so no fixed ratio can be promised. Photos and screenshots typically shrink to a small fraction of the bitmap, while noisy scans shrink less. Set PDF file size to Target size if you need a hard cap.
Will a black-and-white BMP stay crisp in the PDF?
Yes at the default quality. One-bit line art and fax-like scans are already small as BMP, so the gain is mainly a printable page rather than a smaller file. Raise Image quality to 95 for thin lines on technical drawings.
Can I convert old BMP drawings from Microsoft Paint?
Yes. Older versions of Paint saved .bmp by default, which is why many family archives and school projects are full of them. Upload them as they are; renaming or opening them in another app first is not needed.
Should I convert the BMP to PNG or JPG instead?
Pick the result the recipient expects. For loose images use BMP to PNG, which keeps every pixel, or BMP to JPG for photos. For a document to print, attach or archive, a PDF is the better container.
Can I make several bitmaps fit on one sheet?
Set Images per page to 2 or 4. Small exports such as gauge readings or microscope captures are then arranged in a grid, which halves or quarters the number of pages to print.
