How to batch delete all images in multiple PDFs? Efficient processing method to retain text content

When multiple PDF files contain a large number of illustrations, photos, charts, or scanned images, opening them page by page to delete them manually is not only time-consuming but also prone to omissions. This article describes how to use the office software HeSoft Doc Batch Tool to import multiple PDFs at once, set the page range for processing, and batch delete all images within them. After processing, the original text in the PDFs can usually be retained, while the areas where images were located become blank, making it suitable for scenarios such as creating text-only materials, cleaning up document illustrations, and reducing repetitive manual work.

When you need to organize training materials, electronic textbooks, product manuals, or internal documents, you often encounter this problem: dozens or even hundreds of PDF files contain illustrations, photos, charts, and other image objects, while the final deliverable version only needs to retain the text. If you open each PDF one by one and then search page by page to delete images, not only are the operation steps repetitive, but when processing long documents it is also easy to miss a page.

For this need to batch delete images from PDFs, you can use the "Delete images in PDF" feature in HeSoft Doc Batch Tool . It is an office software designed for batch file processing. It can add multiple PDF files at once, uniformly set the processing scope and operation type, and then output the processed files according to the workflow. This article will explain, with reference to the actual interface, how to batch delete all images from multiple PDFs, and will introduce the before-and-after effects, the operation steps, and issues that need attention.

1. Which scenarios are suitable for batch deleting all images in PDFs

Deleting all images from a PDF is not the same as deleting PDF pages. The processing target of this feature is the image objects in the pages, and it is suitable for situations where you want to continue retaining the text content, the number of pages, and the basic reading order, but no longer need the illustrations.

• Creating a text-only reading version: Electronic textbooks, course materials, or meeting documents contain a large number of illustrations, and you only want to keep the text for retrieval, reading, or further editing.
• Uniformly cleaning internal materials: Multiple PDFs contain product photos, portraits, schematic diagrams, or old promotional images that do not need to be published externally, and they need to be removed centrally.
• Organizing batch archive files: When archiving, only the textual information needs to be retained, and you want to reduce the workload of manually checking page by page and deleting images.
• Processing multiple similar documents: For example, PDFs submitted by different chapters, different months, or different departments have similar structures and can be imported once and then processed with the same rules.
• Cleaning up illustrations before printing: Some materials only need the text to be printed, and deleting images in advance can avoid setting the print area page by page. However, whether the file size decreases significantly depends on the internal structure of the PDF, so you cannot judge whether the processing was successful based only on the change in file size.

If you only want to delete a specific fixed logo, watermark image, header image, or repeated icon while retaining other images in the body text, you should not choose "Delete all images". Instead, you should use the "Delete fixed images" operation type in the same feature.

2. Effect preview: What changes in a PDF before and after deleting images

1. Before processing: The PDF page contains illustrations

The screenshot below before processing shows page 133 of the PDF. At the top of the page are the title and body text, and in the middle of the page there is a color illustration. The red arrow is used to mark the position of the image to be deleted, making it easier to compare the processing results.

As can be seen from the screenshot, this is a PDF document with many pages. The current page is page 133, out of 180 pages in total. If processing is done manually, it is necessary to search for images page by page in a long document; when there are many similar files, the repetitive work increases rapidly.

2. After processing: The illustrations disappear, and the text remains

After the deletion is completed, open the corresponding page again and you can see that the original illustration has been removed, while the title, paragraphs, page number, and the text below the image still remain. The area where the original image was located is now blank, and the red arrow points to the area after deletion.

It should be noted that after deleting the image, the software mainly removes the image object and does not necessarily automatically reflow the following text upward. Therefore, the area occupied by the original image may remain blank. This result helps maintain the original page structure of the PDF, but if you want the text to automatically reflow and be rearranged, you usually still need to organize it further in an editable source document.

3. Steps for batch deleting all images from multiple PDFs

Step 1: Open the PDF tool and enter "Delete images in PDF"

After starting HeSoft Doc Batch Tool , select "PDF Tools" from the function categories on the left. The main interface of the software will display various PDF batch processing functions, including adding watermarks, exporting images, deleting pages, and so on. Find number 15, "Delete images in PDF", and click to enter.

The description on the function card says that it batch deletes all images or fixed images in PDF files, so it can process all images as well as clean up specified repeated images. The goal this time is to delete all images, so after entering the function page, continue by adding the files to be processed.

Step 2: Add the PDF files to be batch processed

After entering the function, the first stage is "Select records to be processed". At the top of the interface, there are two entry points: "Add files" and "Import files from folder".

• When there are only a few PDFs and the files are scattered in different directories, you can use "Add files".
• When multiple PDFs are stored together in the same folder, you can use "Import files from folder" to reduce the number of times you need to repeatedly select files.

After the files are added, the list will display information such as name, path, extension, creation time, and modification time. In the screenshot, four PDF files have already been imported, and the summary area at the bottom shows "Record count: 4". Before officially proceeding to the next step, it is recommended to check the number of files and their paths to confirm that no PDF that does not need to be processed has been added to the task.

If you find that a file was added by mistake, you can use the delete icon on the right side of the corresponding record to remove it. If you want to reselect the entire batch of files, you can use "Clear" at the top of the page. After confirming that the list is correct, click "Next" at the bottom.

Step 3: Set the page range of the PDFs to be processed

The second stage is "Set processing options". First, you need to determine the processing scope. In the interface, you can see the following options: all pages, the first few pages, the last few pages, odd pages, even pages, and custom.

If the goal is to completely delete all images from every PDF, you should select "All pages". If you only need to clean up the illustrations near the cover, you can select the first few pages. If you only need to process the attachments at the end of the document, you can select the last few pages. If the document uses different layouts for odd and even pages, you can also select odd pages or even pages respectively. When you need to specify exact page numbers, use "Custom".

The page range directly affects the deletion results. For example, if you select only the first few pages, images on other pages will still be retained. Therefore, for the task of "batch deleting all images from multiple PDFs", two conditions should be met at the same time: set the processing scope to all pages, and set the operation type to delete all images.

Step 4: Set the operation type to "Delete all images"

In the "Operation type" area, select "Delete all images". In the screenshot, the radio button is already on this option, indicating that the software will check each PDF according to the selected page range and delete the image objects recognized within that range.

The interface also provides "Delete fixed images", which is suitable for removing repeated logos or specific images, and is not suitable for the current need to clear all illustrations. When selecting, you should pay attention to the distinction to avoid obtaining incomplete processing results due to an incorrect operation type.

Below, you can also see the "Enhanced mode" switch and help entry. Different PDFs may have different internal structures, and when the normal method cannot process certain special images, you can refer to the help instructions in the interface to evaluate whether to enable enhanced mode. Because enhanced mode may result in different processing time, it is recommended to first test the results with a copy before deciding whether to use it for all files.

Step 5: Set the save location and start batch processing

After confirming the processing options, click "Next" and follow the top workflow to enter "Set save location". To protect the original files, it is recommended to save the results to a new folder and use an easily recognizable directory name, such as "PDFs with images deleted" or "Text-only PDFs".

After completing the settings, enter the "Start processing" stage and launch the batch task. The software will process the PDFs already added to the list in sequence, without the need to open each document one by one, click images page by page, and delete them. This is exactly the core value of office software for batch file processing: apply the same rules once to multiple files, reducing mechanical, repetitive, and error-prone manual operations.

Step 6: Spot-check the processing results

After the task is completed, do not only check whether the output files were generated. You should also open several processed PDFs for spot-checking. It is recommended to focus on the cover, pages with many body images, attachment pages at the end of the document, and pages that originally contained both text and images.

When checking, you can pay attention to three aspects: whether the target images have disappeared, whether the original text can be displayed normally, and whether the page numbers and page count meet expectations. If there are many files, you can first spot-check the first page, middle page, and last page, and then check pages that were previously known to contain images.

4. Common questions and precautions

1. Why is a large blank area left after deleting images

PDF is a fixed-layout document, and text and images are usually placed according to coordinates. After deleting an image object, the surrounding text may not automatically move upward, so a blank area the size of the original image may remain. This usually does not mean the processing failed, but is intended to keep the positions of other content unchanged.

2. Can a scanned PDF directly delete images and retain the text

This needs to be judged carefully. The entire page content of a scanned PDF may itself be a page image, and the text visible to the naked eye is not an independent text object. If the entire scanned page image is deleted, the "text" on the page may also disappear together. It is recommended to first test with a copy and confirm whether the text can be selected independently.

3. Why are some graphics not deleted

Visible content on a PDF page does not necessarily exist in the form of ordinary images. Some icons, lines, vector graphics, or complex page elements may use other object structures, so "Delete images" may not necessarily delete all visual elements. In such cases, you can try enhanced mode and perform spot checks after processing.

4. Should the original files be overwritten directly

It is not recommended to overwrite the source PDFs during the first processing. A batch task affects multiple files at the same time, and once the scope or operation type is selected incorrectly, the cost of rework is high. It is safer to save the results to a separate directory and then archive or replace the original files after confirming that there are no problems.

5. What to do with encrypted or restricted PDFs

If a PDF has an open password, permission restrictions, or file corruption, the software may not be able to read or process it normally. Before starting the task, you should first confirm that the file can be opened normally, and process it according to the actual file permissions.

6. Will deleting images definitely greatly reduce the PDF file size

Not necessarily. Images often occupy a large amount of space, but the final file size is also affected by factors such as fonts, attachments, page structure, and historical data. The main criterion should be whether the target images on the pages have been successfully removed. Do not draw conclusions based only on changes in file size.

5. Summary

Using HeSoft Doc Batch Tool , you can turn the process of "opening PDFs one by one, searching for images page by page, deleting them manually, and saving them separately" into "importing files in batch, setting rules uniformly, and outputting results centrally". For multi-file tasks such as electronic textbooks, training materials, archived documents, and product documents, this approach can significantly reduce repetitive work.

In actual operation, first enter "PDF Tools" and open "Delete images in PDF", then add files in batch. Next, set the processing scope to "All pages" and the operation type to "Delete all images". After that, select the save location and start processing. It is recommended to first copy a representative PDF for testing, and after confirming that the text, page numbers, and layout meet expectations, apply the same rules to the entire batch of files.