Crop PDF
Open a PDF, set how much to cut from the top, right, bottom and left in millimeters, or drag a box on the page preview, and apply it to all pages or a range. The crop is stored as the pages visible area, so your file stays in your browser.
Runs in your browser: nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
How to use it
- Choose a PDF.
- Type the margins to remove in millimeters, or drag a box on the preview: the part inside the box is kept. Use Preview page to check other pages.
- Choose All pages or Chosen pages (for example
1-3,5).
- Press Crop and download.
How it works
For every chosen page the displayed rectangle that is kept is converted into the page’s own coordinate system, taking its rotation into account, and written as the page’s CropBox, starting from the page’s MediaBox. One millimeter is 72 / 25.4 = 2.835 points. On a 600 × 800 pt page, margins of top 10, right 20, bottom 30 and left 40 pt leave a box of 540 × 760 pt starting at 40, 30.
Worked example
An A4 scan (210 × 297 mm) with 15 mm of unwanted border on every side becomes 180 × 267 mm. Type 15 in all four fields and apply it to all pages.
Tips
- Check the preview on the page with the widest content before applying to all pages.
- To cut scanned book pages, use the drag box on a typical page, then apply to all.
- Combine with rotate or reorder tools to clean up a scan.
Frequently asked questions
Does cropping delete the cut-off content?
No. The tool sets the page's CropBox, which tells viewers and printers what to show. The rest of the page is still stored in the file and can be recovered by a tool that ignores the CropBox. To remove confidential content, flatten the PDF to images or redact it with a proper tool.
Are margins measured from the page I see?
Yes. Top, right, bottom and left are measured on the page as displayed, also for pages that are rotated. The tool converts them to the page's internal coordinates.
Can I crop pages differently?
The same margins are used for the pages you choose. To crop different ranges differently, run the tool once per range, choosing Chosen pages each time.
What do the millimeters mean on pages of other sizes?
They are absolute: 10 mm is 10 mm on every page, so the same margins take a larger share of a small page. The preview box shows the result for the page you are looking at.
Why do I get an error about margins?
At least 10 points (about 3.5 mm) must remain in each direction. With margins that are too large for a small page, the tool stops and names the page.