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pdfconversionapi

MOBI to TIFF API

POST a .mobi file to /v2/convert/mobi/to/tiff and the book comes back as one multi-page TIFF. With ImageResolution=100, the six-page lighthouse sample is a 521,335-byte file of six 850 × 1100 frames, LZW-compressed and tagged 100 dpi.

Endpoint
POST /v2/convert/mobi/to/tiff
Accepts
mobi
Sample timing
0.194 s median of 5 runsHow we measure
Request size
Up to 10 MB on the Free plan or 100 MB on paid plans, all files together

Request and response

Every sample below ran against the API before this page was published. Set PDFCONVERSIONAPI_KEY to your key and run it as is.

curl -sS -X POST \
  https://api.pdfconversionapi.com/v2/convert/mobi/to/tiff \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PDFCONVERSIONAPI_KEY" \
  -F File=@cape-merrow-light.mobi \
  --form-string ImageResolution=100 \
  -o response.json

# FileData is base64. Save the first file in converted/,
# or print the JSON error.
if jq -e '.Files' response.json > /dev/null; then
  mkdir -p converted
  name=$(jq -r '.Files[0].FileName' response.json)
  jq -r '.Files[0].FileData' response.json \
    | base64 --decode > "converted/$name"
else
  cat response.json
fi
200 OK0.194 s median1 file, 509 KB
{
  "ConversionCost": 1,
  "ConversionTime": 0.194,
  "Files": [
    {
      "FileName": "cape-merrow-light.tiff",
      "FileExt": "tiff",
      "FileSize": 521335,
      "FileData": "SUkqAH4dAgBkAAAAAQAAAGQA…"
    }
  ]
}

Response from our test run on 2026-11-03. ConversionTime shows the median of 5 runs. FileData is shortened here; the real response carries the whole file as base64.

The sample, converted

The same file the code sends. Download the input and the output and compare them yourself.

First page of cape-merrow-light.tiff, rendered by the API
Input
cape-merrow-light.mobi (29 KB)
Output
cape-merrow-light.tiff (509 KB)
Source
A short fictional e-book about a lighthouse keeper's year, with a cover, a map and a chart, written and drawn by us and packed as a MOBI file by our own script. (CC0-1.0). How it was made
Made by
2026-11-04, API build 9eeeb0640aba

Parameters

Send these as form fields next to the file. Names are case-insensitive. If you set one of the documented options below that we don't support yet, the request fails with a 400 that names it instead of returning a file made without it.

ParameterWhat it does
MultiPageboolean, default truePuts every page in one TIFF called cape-merrow-light.tiff. false gives one file per page, each uncompressed.
ImageResolutioninteger, default 150Drawing resolution, stored in the TIFF when sent. Without it the sample is six 1275 × 1650 frames in 922,204 bytes, with resolution tags of 1 × 1 and no unit.Values: 36–600
PageRangestringFrames to include; a single page is returned uncompressed (701,460 bytes for page 1 at 50 dpi).Values: 1, 3-5, 4-, 2-last
ImageWidthintegerFrame width in pixels.Values: 1–20,000
ImageHeightintegerFrame height in pixels.Values: 1–20,000
PageSizeenum, default letterPaper size; with a5 the sample becomes nine frames.Values: a0–a9, b0–b5, letter, legal, ledger
BaseFontSizenumber, default 12Text size, and with it the size of the chapter headings.Values: 1–50 (points)
MarginTopnumber, default 40Margin above, in points.Values: 0–200 (points)
MarginRightnumber, default 40Margin on the right, in points.Values: 0–200 (points)
MarginBottomnumber, default 40Margin below, in points.Values: 0–200 (points)
MarginLeftnumber, default 40Margin on the left, in points.Values: 0–200 (points)
ColorSpaceenum, default defaultGray or black-and-white pixels in one 8-bit channel, combined TIFFs included (111,372 bytes for the six frames at 50 dpi).Values: default, rgb, gray, monochrome
BackgroundColorstring, default whitePage color behind the text and pictures.Values: Color names, #RRGGBB or R,G,B
TransparentColorstringAn exact color made transparent in the frames.Values: Color names, #RRGGBB or R,G,B
FileNamestringName for the TIFF without the extension.
StoreFileboolean, default falseReturn a 3-hour download link instead of the TIFF data.

What carries over, and what doesn't

Kept

  • All six pages of the sample in one file, in reading order, one frame per MOBI page break
  • The cover drawing, the fog-hours GIF and the channel map on their pages
  • Bold and italic text, headings, the indented quote and the bullet list
  • Lossless LZW frames, tagged 100 × 100 dpi in the sample

Lost or not yet supported

  • Compression for one-page results: a single frame is written as raw RGB, 3 bytes per pixel.
  • The book's centering, font sizes and table borders, which MOBI 6 stores as HTML attributes that our layout does not apply.
  • A cover kept only in the MOBI header, and the book's title and author metadata.
  • Selectable text and links; ask for PDF when you need them.
  • 1-bit fax compression (CCITT Group 4), which is not available.

Limits

  • One book per request.
  • Requests up to 10 MB on the Free plan or 100 MB on paid plans, all files and fields together.
  • Up to 2,000 frames per request, and each output file up to 512 MB.
  • DRM-protected books return 422; HUFF/CDIC compression returns 404.
  • Book text over 64 MB returns 413.
  • 120 seconds per conversion.

Where teams use it

Preserving the pages of a retired format

An archive that is retiring MOBI files can keep a page-image copy of each unprotected book as one TIFF, alongside a PDF from /v2/convert/mobi/to/pdf for the text.

Loading e-books into document imaging systems

Systems that file scanned documents as multi-page TIFF can take a MOBI book the same way, one frame per page, at the resolution the system is set up for.

Questions

How big is a TIFF of a MOBI book?

The sample's six pages are 922,204 bytes at the default 150 dpi and 521,335 bytes at 100 dpi, as one LZW-compressed file. Size grows with the page count and the resolution.

Why is a single page so large?

Only TIFFs with two or more frames are compressed. PageRange=1 returns page 1 uncompressed, 701,460 bytes even at 50 dpi. Ask for PNG if you need one page.

Where do the page breaks fall?

Wherever the book has <mbp:pagebreak/>, and wherever a page fills up. The sample puts a break before each chapter, so on Letter each section is one frame; on A5 the title page and chapters 2 and 3 each run over two frames, so the book has nine.

Convert your first MOBI file in a minute.