Split PDF Spreads
Choose a PDF whose pages hold two pages side by side, and download a file with each page cut down the middle into two pages. Choose the order for right-to-left books.
Runs in your browser: nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
How to use it
- Choose or drop a PDF with two pages on each sheet.
- Pick Down the middle for side-by-side pages or Across the middle for pages stacked on top of each other.
- Choose the order of the halves and press Split and download. The file is named
name-split.pdf.
How it works
Each page is copied twice with pdf-lib. The first copy gets the left (or top) half as its visible area and the second copy gets the other half; both the media box and the crop box are set, because some printers ignore one of them.
Example
A 3-page scan of landscape spreads, each 842 × 595 points, becomes 6 pages of 421 × 595 points: left half of sheet 1, right half of sheet 1, left half of sheet 2, and so on.
Tips
- Split first, then use the Organize PDF tool if the scan order of the sheets needs fixing.
- Both halves share the original page content, so the file stays about the same size.
Frequently asked questions
Is the content cut off or only hidden?
The tool sets the visible area of each copy to one half of the page. The other half is still stored in the file, so the file does not get smaller, and the page content is not redrawn or reduced in quality.
Where exactly is the cut?
At the exact middle of the page, so it works for spreads scanned straight. If the book was scanned crooked or the gutter is off-center, crop the result afterwards with the PDF crop tool.
What is the order option for?
Left first suits books read from left to right. Right first gives the right half before the left one, which is what a manga or other right-to-left book needs.
Does it handle rotated pages?
Yes. The cut follows the page as you see it in a viewer, also when the page is stored turned.
Why does it refuse my file?
Password-protected and damaged PDFs cannot be processed. Each file can be up to 100 MB.