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How to crop a PDF document on Windows, Mac, and online
You may want to consider cropping that PDF if you receive a 500-page PDF but only require a snippet of information within it. It may seem daunting at first, but cropping a PDF is pretty simple on Windows, Mac, or online using built-in tools or third-party services. Read on for more details.
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On Windows, open your PDF in your preferred PDF reader, open the screenshot tool, then screenshot the portion of the PDF you wish to crop.
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How to crop a PDF page on Windows
The quickest way to crop a portion of a PDF page on Windows is to use its built-in screenshot tool.
- Open the PDF you want to crop in your preferred PDF reader.
- Scroll to the section you wish to crop.
- Open the Snipping Tool (alternatively press the Windows key + Shift + S to activate Snip & Sketch).
- Select the section of your PDF you wish to crop.
- A preview of the screenshot will appear.
- To save it, click File > Save as.
Beyond Windows’ default snipping tool, plenty of adept third-party screenshotting apps pack enhanced functionality that’ll make cropping PDFs a breeze.
Alternatively, you can crop images in Adobe Acrobat. However, this is not the method we recommend, as you’ll need an Adobe Acrobat Pro subscription.
How to crop a PDF page on Mac
Apple makes it easy to crop PDFs from within the Preview app on macOS.
- Open the PDF in the Preview app.
- Click the Show Markup Toolbar button > Rectangular Selection button.
- Select the section of your PDF you wish to crop.
- Click the Crop button located in the Markup Toolbar.
How to crop a PDF document online
Many online services allow you to crop entire PDF documents, but we recommend PDFResizer.
- Head to PDFRezier in your preferred web browser.
- Upload your PDF to the service by selecting the Browse button, then Upload files!.
- Once the file is uploaded, select the section you wish to crop, or select Auto-crop to reduce the margin automatically.
- Tap Crop it! to initiate the process.
- A download link for the cropped PDF will appear on the page. Tap on it to initiate the download.
This tool processes all pages with the same crop you selected in the preview window. This means it’s not ideal for cutting only a section from your PDF. However, it is great to trim the white margins from a PDF document to improve its visibility once printed.