This PDF to AVIF converter turns every page of a PDF into an AVIF image — the next-generation image format that is typically 50% smaller than JPG and 25% smaller than WebP at the same visual quality. The tool runs entirely in your browser: drop a PDF, pick a quality (30–95, default 65), and each page is converted to an AVIF you can download individually or as a single ZIP. Nothing is uploaded to a server, no account is needed, and there is no per-file size limit beyond your browser’s memory. AVIF encoding is CPU-intensive — expect a few seconds per page on a typical laptop — but the resulting files are dramatically smaller than any other format we offer.
What is AVIF and why convert a PDF to it?
AVIF (AV1 Image File Format) is a 2019 image standard based on the AV1 video codec, designed by the Alliance for Open Media to give the web a single format that is dramatically more efficient than JPG, PNG, or WebP. The technical headline numbers are real: at equivalent visual quality, AVIF files are typically 50% smaller than JPG, 30% smaller than WebP, and 70% smaller than PNG. For PDF conversion that means each page lands as an unusually small image — often under 100 KB for a typical A4 document page rendered at 2× scale and 65% quality.
The catch is encoding speed. AVIF compression is computationally expensive, especially when run as WebAssembly inside a browser, so each page takes a few seconds rather than the near-instant export you get from PDF to JPG or PDF to WebP. For one-off web-optimization workflows the wait is worth it; for batch archival of hundreds of pages, JPG or WebP is the more pragmatic choice.
How to convert PDF to AVIF
- Drop your PDF onto the drop zone at the top of this page, or click to browse. Multiple PDFs can be queued.
- Pick a quality and scale. Quality slider (30–95, default 65) controls compression aggressiveness. Render scale (1× / 2× / 3×, default 2×) controls resolution. Type a Pages range like
1-3,5to convert only specific pages. - Click Convert and wait. AVIF encoding is slow — a 10-page PDF at 2× scale typically takes 25–60 seconds. The progress bar updates per page so you know it has not frozen.
PDF to AVIF quality: choosing the right value
AVIF quality ranges from 30 (aggressive compression, thumbnail-only) to 95 (near-lossless, large files). The default of 65 corresponds roughly to JPG 85 in visible quality but at less than half the file size. Approximate output sizes for a single A4 PDF page at 2× scale:
| Quality | Typical AVIF size (A4 @ 2×) | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| 30 | 15–35 KB | Thumbnails, very low-bandwidth previews |
| 50 | 35–70 KB | Long blog posts with many image slides |
| 65 (default) | 60–120 KB | General web use — invisible quality loss |
| 80 | 120–220 KB | Hero images, large above-the-fold visuals |
| 95 | 250–500 KB | Archival quality, still smaller than equivalent PNG |
Stay at 65 unless you have a specific reason not to. The visible difference between 65 and 80 is hard to spot for most images, while the file is roughly half the size. Drop to 50 for thumbnails or low-priority body images. Push to 80+ only for hero shots, brand visuals, or print preparation.
PDF to AVIF for web performance and Core Web Vitals
If you run a content site where image weight is the biggest contributor to Largest Contentful Paint, replacing JPG and PNG images with AVIF is the single highest-impact optimization available. A 250 KB JPG hero image typically converts to a 90–120 KB AVIF at equivalent visual quality, which on a slow connection translates to a 200–800 ms LCP improvement. Multiply that across the 8–15 images in a typical long-form post and the page weight savings often exceed 1 MB.
The practical pattern: serve AVIF as the primary format with a JPG or WebP fallback via the HTML <picture> element. Modern browsers that support AVIF (Chrome 85+, Firefox 113+, Safari 16+, Edge 121+) take the AVIF; older clients get the fallback. This converter produces the AVIF side of that pair — combine with our PDF to JPG or PDF to WebP converter to produce the fallback at the same render scale.
Why is PDF to AVIF conversion so slow?
AVIF achieves its size savings through compression that is fundamentally more expensive to compute than JPG or WebP. The AV1 codec at its heart is a video codec — designed for offline encoding where the decoder side (i.e., the user viewing the image) does the easy work, and the encoder side (i.e., this tool) does the heavy lifting. Running that encoder as WebAssembly in a browser adds another layer of overhead. The combination means a single A4 page at 2× scale takes 2–4 seconds on a modern laptop, vs. tens of milliseconds for JPG.
If the wait is a problem for your workflow, the answer is usually: convert to WebP instead. WebP gets 80% of AVIF’s compression advantage at 5% of the encoding cost. AVIF only pays off when you specifically need the smallest possible file and you are happy to wait a few seconds per page.
AVIF browser support: who can view these files?
Native AVIF viewing support is universal across modern browsers as of 2024: Chrome 85+ (2020), Firefox 113+ (2023), Safari 16+ (2022), Edge 121+ (2024). Mobile browsers on iOS and Android follow the same versions. For native operating-system viewers, macOS 14+ (Sonoma) reads AVIF in Preview natively, Windows 10/11 reads AVIF with the free HEIF Image Extensions installed, and Linux image viewers all support AVIF through libavif. For older clients, the standard fallback pattern is to ship a JPG or WebP alternative via <picture>.
Convert PDF to AVIF batch
Drop multiple PDFs onto the drop zone in one go, and the converter processes them sequentially. Each PDF gets its own progress bar; outputs are named with the source PDF filename plus zero-padded page number. When all are done, the Download All as ZIP button packages every AVIF across every PDF into a single archive. For batch workflows, plan for the encoding cost: 5 PDFs of 10 pages each at default quality and scale typically takes 2–5 minutes total. Cancel is available at any point.
Privacy: in-browser PDF to AVIF, no upload
Every step happens in your browser. PDF parsing uses Mozilla’s open-source PDF.js library; page rendering uses HTML canvas; AVIF encoding uses Google’s open-source jSquash WebAssembly build of the same encoder that powers avifenc on the command line. None of those steps requires a network connection after this page loads. The PDF and the resulting AVIFs never leave your device. We do not log filenames, hashes, or any metadata about converted files. There are no analytics on individual conversions. For sensitive PDFs — contracts, medical records, internal company documents — this matters: an upload-based converter has no way to give you the same guarantee.
Troubleshooting
Browser feels frozen during conversion
AVIF encoding is CPU-intensive and runs on the main thread. The browser may feel sluggish during the encode but it has not crashed — the progress bar will advance. If you are converting many pages, drop the render scale to 1× or convert in smaller batches via the Pages field. For comparison, the same PDF as WebP typically encodes in 1/20 the time.
“This PDF is password-protected”
Password-protected PDFs cannot be rendered by any browser-based tool. Remove the password using Acrobat, Preview, or qpdf, then drop the unprotected copy back onto this PDF to AVIF converter.
Output AVIF won’t open in my viewer
Check the viewer version. Older operating systems may need a plugin — Windows 10/11 needs the free “HEIF Image Extensions” from the Microsoft Store; macOS prior to Sonoma can install Apple’s HEIC support. If your audience runs on older clients, use our PDF to WebP converter for better compatibility or PDF to JPG for universal support.
Conversion fails with “WebAssembly not supported”
You are using a browser without WASM support. Update to a current version of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge — all of which have supported WebAssembly for years.
Free, no signup, unlimited PDF to AVIF conversion
No account, no daily quota, no premium tier, no watermark. The PDF to AVIF converter is yours to use as much as you want. If you also need other formats: our PDF to PNG, PDF to JPG, PDF to WebP, and PDF to TIFF converters all work the same way: 100% in your browser, no upload.