diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 651a16d7..834dce6c 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ RUN echo "@testing https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main" | tee -a /et
 openssl-dev \
         bash \
         curl \
-        openjdk17-jre \
+        openjdk21-jre \
         su-exec \
         shadow \
 # Doc conversion
diff --git a/Dockerfile-ultra-lite b/Dockerfile-ultra-lite
index eed8d783..ea07e62f 100644
--- a/Dockerfile-ultra-lite
+++ b/Dockerfile-ultra-lite
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ RUN mkdir /configs /logs /customFiles && \
         curl \
         su-exec \
         shadow \
-        openjdk17-jre && \
+        openjdk21-jre && \
     echo "@testing https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main" | tee -a /etc/apk/repositories && \
     echo "@testing https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community" | tee -a /etc/apk/repositories && \
     echo "@testing https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing" | tee -a /etc/apk/repositories && \
diff --git a/LocalRunGuide.md b/LocalRunGuide.md
index e4f744c3..0c344203 100644
--- a/LocalRunGuide.md
+++ b/LocalRunGuide.md
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ You could theoretically use a Distrobox/Toolbox, if your Distribution has old or
 
 Install the following software, if not already installed:
 
-- Java 17 or later
+- Java 17 or later (21 recommended)
 
 - Gradle 7.0 or later (included within repo so not needed on server)
 
@@ -42,19 +42,19 @@ For Debian-based systems, you can use the following command:
 
 ```bash
 sudo apt-get update
-sudo apt-get install -y git  automake  autoconf  libtool  libleptonica-dev  pkg-config zlib1g-dev make g++ openjdk-17-jdk python3 python3-pip
+sudo apt-get install -y git  automake  autoconf  libtool  libleptonica-dev  pkg-config zlib1g-dev make g++ openjdk-21-jdk python3 python3-pip
 ```
 
 For Fedora-based systems use this command:
 
 ```bash
-sudo dnf install -y git automake autoconf libtool leptonica-devel pkg-config zlib-devel make gcc-c++ java-17-openjdk python3 python3-pip
+sudo dnf install -y git automake autoconf libtool leptonica-devel pkg-config zlib-devel make gcc-c++ java-21-openjdk python3 python3-pip
 ```
 
 For non-root users with Nix Package Manager, use the following command:
 ```bash
 nix-channel --update
-nix-env -iA nixpkgs.jdk17 nixpkgs.git nixpkgs.python38 nixpkgs.gnumake nixpkgs.libgcc nixpkgs.automake nixpkgs.autoconf nixpkgs.libtool nixpkgs.pkg-config nixpkgs.zlib nixpkgs.leptonica
+nix-env -iA nixpkgs.jdk21 nixpkgs.git nixpkgs.python38 nixpkgs.gnumake nixpkgs.libgcc nixpkgs.automake nixpkgs.autoconf nixpkgs.libtool nixpkgs.pkg-config nixpkgs.zlib nixpkgs.leptonica
 ```
 
 ### Step 2: Clone and Build jbig2enc (Only required for certain OCR functionality)
diff --git a/src/main/java/stirling/software/SPDF/config/security/UserBasedRateLimitingFilter.java b/src/main/java/stirling/software/SPDF/config/security/UserBasedRateLimitingFilter.java
index 89107697..b4b88d25 100644
--- a/src/main/java/stirling/software/SPDF/config/security/UserBasedRateLimitingFilter.java
+++ b/src/main/java/stirling/software/SPDF/config/security/UserBasedRateLimitingFilter.java
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 package stirling.software.SPDF.config.security;
 
-import io.github.pixee.security.Newlines;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.time.Duration;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -21,6 +20,7 @@ import io.github.bucket4j.Bandwidth;
 import io.github.bucket4j.Bucket;
 import io.github.bucket4j.ConsumptionProbe;
 import io.github.bucket4j.Refill;
+import io.github.pixee.security.Newlines;
 
 import jakarta.servlet.FilterChain;
 import jakarta.servlet.ServletException;
@@ -126,12 +126,16 @@ public class UserBasedRateLimitingFilter extends OncePerRequestFilter {
         ConsumptionProbe probe = userBucket.tryConsumeAndReturnRemaining(1);
 
         if (probe.isConsumed()) {
-            response.setHeader("X-Rate-Limit-Remaining", Newlines.stripAll(Long.toString(probe.getRemainingTokens())));
+            response.setHeader(
+                    "X-Rate-Limit-Remaining",
+                    Newlines.stripAll(Long.toString(probe.getRemainingTokens())));
             filterChain.doFilter(request, response);
         } else {
             long waitForRefill = probe.getNanosToWaitForRefill() / 1_000_000_000;
             response.setStatus(HttpStatus.TOO_MANY_REQUESTS.value());
-            response.setHeader("X-Rate-Limit-Retry-After-Seconds", Newlines.stripAll(String.valueOf(waitForRefill)));
+            response.setHeader(
+                    "X-Rate-Limit-Retry-After-Seconds",
+                    Newlines.stripAll(String.valueOf(waitForRefill)));
             response.getWriter().write("Rate limit exceeded for POST requests.");
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/main/java/stirling/software/SPDF/controller/api/converters/ConvertImgPDFController.java b/src/main/java/stirling/software/SPDF/controller/api/converters/ConvertImgPDFController.java
index 9fa357f7..3f880a80 100644
--- a/src/main/java/stirling/software/SPDF/controller/api/converters/ConvertImgPDFController.java
+++ b/src/main/java/stirling/software/SPDF/controller/api/converters/ConvertImgPDFController.java
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ public class ConvertImgPDFController {
             description =
                     "This endpoint converts a PDF file to image(s) with the specified image format, color type, and DPI. Users can choose to get a single image or multiple images.  Input:PDF Output:Image Type:SI-Conditional")
     public ResponseEntity<byte[]> convertToImage(@ModelAttribute ConvertToImageRequest request)
-            throws IOException {
+            throws NumberFormatException, Exception {
         MultipartFile file = request.getFileInput();
         String imageFormat = request.getImageFormat();
         String singleOrMultiple = request.getSingleOrMultiple();
@@ -56,23 +56,20 @@ public class ConvertImgPDFController {
         String filename =
                 Filenames.toSimpleFileName(file.getOriginalFilename())
                         .replaceFirst("[.][^.]+$", "");
-        try {
-            result =
-                    PdfUtils.convertFromPdf(
-                            pdfBytes,
-                            imageFormat.toUpperCase(),
-                            colorTypeResult,
-                            singleImage,
-                            Integer.valueOf(dpi),
-                            filename);
-        } catch (IOException e) {
-            // TODO Auto-generated catch block
-            e.printStackTrace();
-        } catch (Exception e) {
-            // TODO Auto-generated catch block
-            e.printStackTrace();
-        }
+        
+        result =
+                PdfUtils.convertFromPdf(
+                        pdfBytes,
+                        imageFormat.toUpperCase(),
+                        colorTypeResult,
+                        singleImage,
+                        Integer.valueOf(dpi),
+                        filename);
+        
 
+        if(result == null || result.length == 0) {
+        	logger.error("resultant bytes for {} is null, error converting ", filename);
+        }
         if (singleImage) {
             String docName = filename + "." + imageFormat;
             MediaType mediaType = MediaType.parseMediaType(getMediaType(imageFormat));