How to Extract Images from a PDF on Chromebook

The extraction process uses Chrome's standard upload and download features, which integrate smoothly with Google Drive and local Chromebook storage.

1. 1Open Chrome on your Chromebook
2. 2Navigate to lazy-pdf.com/extract-images
3. 3Click the upload area to open Chrome's file picker
4. 4Navigate to your PDF — either in My Files (local storage), Downloads, or Google Drive
5. 5Select the PDF and click Open to upload it
6. 6Wait while the tool processes the PDF and identifies all embedded images
7. 7Browse the extracted images displayed in the tool interface
8. 8Download individual images by clicking on them, or use the 'Download All' option to get a ZIP file
9. 9The ZIP or individual files download to your Downloads folder
10. 10Open the Files app to access and organize the downloaded images

Google Drive is where most Chromebook users store their documents, and Chrome's file picker makes Drive content easily accessible. When the file picker opens after clicking the upload area, look at the left panel for Google Drive. Click on it and navigate to the folder containing your PDF. Select the file and click Open. If your PDF is shared with you from another Google Drive user (through a shared Drive or a sharing link), you may need to first make a copy to your own Drive. Open the shared file in Drive, use File > Make a copy, and then upload the copy from your Drive to the extraction tool. For PDFs accessed through a Google Drive sharing link (not in your Drive), download the file first: click the download button in the Drive file viewer, which saves it to your Downloads folder, then upload from Downloads.

After downloading, your extracted images are in the Files app. ChromeOS has a built-in image viewer that opens when you click an image file — useful for quickly reviewing all the extracted images before organizing them. To view the extracted images: open the Files app, navigate to Downloads, and click any image file. The Gallery app opens and you can navigate through the images using arrow keys or the navigation buttons. To use extracted images in Google Docs, Slides, or other Google Workspace apps: open the document, go to Insert > Image > Upload from computer, and navigate to the extracted images in your Files app. For sharing the images via Gmail: compose a new email, click the attachment button, navigate to your Downloads folder, and attach the images you want to send.

When you download all extracted images at once, they're packaged in a ZIP file. ChromeOS handles ZIP files natively. After downloading a ZIP to your Downloads folder, find it in the Files app. Click on the ZIP file to open it — ChromeOS shows the contents without fully extracting them, similar to how you might browse a folder. To extract the contents: right-click on the ZIP file and choose Extract (or Unpack) from the context menu. ChromeOS extracts the images into a new folder with the same name as the ZIP file. Alternatively, you can access the files inside the ZIP directly from within ChromeOS's viewer — just open images from the ZIP view if you only need a few specific files and don't want to extract everything.

Chromebook users commonly encounter these image extraction scenarios: Students extracting charts and diagrams from academic PDFs for use in presentations or papers. The images can be inserted into Google Slides or Docs after extraction. Business users extracting product photos from supplier catalogs to use in marketing materials or internal comparisons. Extracted product images can be uploaded to Google Drive for team access. Teachers extracting illustrations from textbook PDFs to include in classroom presentations or learning materials. Creative professionals extracting inspiration images from design magazines or lookbooks saved as PDFs. Researchers extracting figures and data visualizations from academic papers for review or citation in their own work.