Crop PDF
Runs in your browserTrim the margins off a PDF in your browser. Nothing is uploaded and there is no limit. Set how much comes off each edge and the pages get smaller while the content stays exactly where it was.
or drop them here, or paste
One file. It stays on your device.
Cropping in a PDF sets a smaller visible window on each page. The page keeps its content and its coordinates, and readers simply show and print the window you defined.
Everything happens inside this page. Your file is read by JavaScript running on your own machine, and no part of it is sent anywhere.
Cropped is hidden, not deleted
This matters more than any other thing on this page. The material outside the crop box is still in the file. It is not displayed, it does not print, and most people will never see it, but a tool that resets the box brings it straight back.
That is not a shortcoming of this tool, it is how the format defines cropping, and every PDF cropper works this way. If you are cropping to remove something confidential from the edge of a page, cropping is the wrong tool and redaction is the right one.
Why crop at all
The usual reason is reading on a small screen. An academic paper with two and a half centimetres of white around it wastes a third of a tablet display, and cropping that away makes the text noticeably larger without zooming and panning.
The other common reason is a scan that came out with a dark border or a strip of the scanner lid down one side. Trimming that off makes the document look deliberate rather than rushed.
Working in points
Margins are set in points, the unit PDF itself uses. There are 72 points to an inch and about 28 to a centimetre, so 28 trims roughly a centimetre and 72 trims an inch.
Start smaller than you think. Take 20 points off, look at the result, and go again if there is more to lose. Cropping too far cuts into the text, and because the box can be reset you have not destroyed anything, but you have wasted a step.
Pages of different sizes
The same margins are applied to every page you selected, measured from that page's own edges. On a document where all the pages match, which is almost all documents, that does what you expect.
If the document mixes portrait and landscape, crop them separately using the page range, because a margin that suits a tall page will usually be wrong on a wide one.
How to crop pdf
- 01
Add your PDF
Select or drop the file with margins to trim.
- 02
Set the margins
Choose how many points come off each edge.
- 03
Crop
Press Crop PDF and download the trimmed file.
Questions about Crop PDF
How do I crop a PDF?
Add the file, set how many points to take off each edge, and press Crop PDF. The visible area of each page shrinks by that much and the content stays where it is.
Does cropping delete the content outside the box?
No. Cropping sets a smaller visible window, and the material outside it is still in the file. Use the redact tool if the content must actually be destroyed.
What unit are the margins in?
Points, the unit PDF uses. 72 points is one inch and about 28 points is one centimetre.
Can I crop only some pages?
Yes. Set a page range and only those pages are cropped. This is what you want on a document that mixes portrait and landscape pages.