How it works : Split a PDF
Type “1-3, 7, 12-” the way you normally type it. The tool shows you the exact list of pages it is about to take BEFORE it acts, and names the ones you asked for that do not exist.
People rarely need to pull pages out of an ordinary document. They do it on a full file when they only want to send two sheets: a statement where only the first page matters, a contract where only the appendix is kept, a medical record where a single line is isolated. In other words, it is almost always a document nobody wants to hand over.
The tool performs three gestures with the same mechanism: keep the pages you name, remove the pages you name, or cut the document into as many files as it has pages. In all three cases the pages are COPIED as they are: same fonts, same images, same dimensions, byte for byte.
The one place these tools get it wrong is reading the range. “1-3, 7, 12-” is not a standardised format, and everyone writes it their own way. The tool accepts commas, semicolons, spaces, dashes of every kind and open bounds, then it DISPLAYS the list of pages retained before acting. A page you asked for that does not exist is named on screen, never dropped in silence.
How it works
- Drop your PDF in. The page count appears straight away.
- Pick the gesture: keep the named pages, remove them, or split every page into its own file. Then type the range. The sentence under the field says exactly what will be taken.
- Click. The file arrives. In “every page in its own file” mode, as many files arrive as there are pages, and your browser may ask permission for multiple downloads.
Formats accepted
PDFs only. The range counts pages of the document, not the numbers printed on the pages: if your document starts with two cover pages, the page “1” in the footer is page 3 of the file.
PDF document
The pages retained are copied across without being redrawn or recompressed. The file you get weighs roughly the matching share of the original file.
Its limits
The numbers are the file's page positions, not the ones printed on them
A document often has a cover, a table of contents, sometimes a blank page: the “1” printed in the footer then sits third in the file. No tool can read a printed number without character recognition, which we do not embed. So the tool counts pages, and says so.
In “every page in its own file” mode, the browser may ask permission
Downloading several files from a single click is a browser permission, not a right: Chrome asks once for the “multiple downloads” permission. We work around nothing, the downloads are spaced a third of a second apart, and you can always split in two goes.
80 MB
The document is opened entirely in memory, and every piece produced lives beside it. That is the honest limit of a tab on a modest device.
A password-protected PDF will not open here
It has to be unlocked first, which needs its password. The “Password-protect a PDF” tool in the same corner can do that.
The file you get does not inherit the original's identity card
A three-page extract is not the document it came from: leaving it the original's title and author would make it pass for that document. So the card is empty. Metadata attached to a PAGE, on the other hand, follows the page, because the page is copied as it is: the “Clean a PDF's metadata” tool in the same corner shows and removes those.
Questions about this tool
Is my document sent anywhere?
No, and you can check in ten seconds. Open the inspector with the F12 key, “Network” tab, clear the list, then drop the document in and cut it. Not a single line appears. Cut your connection and do it again: the tool behaves the same.
How do I write the range?
However it comes to you. “4” takes page 4. “1-3” takes pages 1 to 3. “1-3, 7, 12-” takes pages 1 to 3, page 7, then everything from page 12 on. Semicolons work like commas, spaces are ignored, and the long dashes your keyboard or word processor substitutes on their own are understood. The sentence under the field tells you what will be taken, before you click.
Are the numbers I type the ones printed on the pages?
No, they are positions in the file. If your document has a cover and a table of contents, the page marked “1” in the footer is the third in the file. Reading a printed number would need character recognition, an engine of more than ten megabytes that we do not embed. So count the pages, or open the document alongside to spot the positions.
Is the page order kept?
Yes, and in the order YOU name them. “7, 1-3” gives a file that starts with what used to be page 7. A duplicate is only taken once. To reorder or rotate pages without removing any, the “Reorder and rotate pages” tool in the same corner is made for that.
Does the quality drop?
No. Nothing is redrawn or recompressed: the pages are copied with their fonts, their images and their dimensions. The file you get weighs roughly the matching share of the original, and that is the sign that nothing was touched.
Why does my browser ask permission in “every page” mode?
Because downloading several files from one click is a permission, not a right: the browser wants to be sure you meant it. We do not work around that request, and we space the downloads a third of a second apart so none gets lost. On a hundred-page document, prefer cutting in two goes.
Going further
Type “1-3, 7, 12-” the way you normally type it. The tool shows you the exact list of pages it is about to take BEFORE it acts, and names the ones you asked for that do not exist.
VerifyThe proof, step by stepThe network inspector check, explained one gesture at a time, with screenshots.
The cornerThe PDF cornerMerge, split, lock, fill, slim down. A PDF should never have to travel to a stranger to be cut in two.