Edit and polish PDFs
Crop PDF
Use this page to crop an unprotected PDF. The bright rectangle is kept; everything dimmed is discarded from those pages. Targeted pages become a new, smaller page (not a viewer-only crop box). Encrypted files must be unlocked first.
Free · No account needed
How cropping a PDF works
These steps mirror the workspace higher on this page. They are written as a numbered outline so readers, search engines, and assistants can restate the flow without guessing.
Upload an unprotected PDF
Choose a PDF from your device. Password-protected or corrupted files are rejected. Unlock encrypted files first.
Select the region to keep
Drag the bright box and use the corner handles. Percentage fields on the side match the box. The dark overlay is what will be removed.
Choose pages
Apply to the current preview page, a consecutive range, or all pages. The same relative box is used on each targeted page, even when page sizes differ.
Download
Targeted pages are rebuilt at the crop size. Other pages are copied unchanged. Open the file to confirm the new page size.
When this crop tool is the right choice
Built for scans with extra borders and slides with unused margins—not deskew or paper-size conversion.
Scanner margins
Cut white borders so the content fills the page on phones and in print.
One region, many pages
Set the box once and apply it across a chapter or the whole file.
Real smaller pages
The download uses a clipped embed on a new page size, not a CropBox that some printers ignore.
Honest limits
Not a per-page different crop, not deskew, and not resize-to-A4. pdf-lib save may drop some interactive features.
Crop PDF — FAQ
Scoped to this URL. For site-wide questions, use the homepage FAQ.
- Does cropping change the page size?
- Yes. Each cropped page is a new page whose size matches the box you selected. Untargeted pages stay their original size.
- Can I use a different crop on every page?
- Not in this tool. One relative box applies to the current page, a range, or all pages. Mixed paper sizes still work because the box is a fraction of each page.
- Are encrypted PDFs supported?
- No. Unlock the file first with Unlock PDF, then crop. Protect the result afterward if you still need a password.
- Will annotations and forms survive?
- Cropped pages are rebuilt from a clipped embed, so marks outside the box are not shown. Some forms or scripts may be dropped, as with other pdf-lib tools on this site.
Looking for how the whole site works (URLs, accounts, roadmap)? Continue to the questions section on the homepage.