PDF Tools

Crop PDF

Visually crop your PDF pages to remove margins or focus on specific content.

Select PDF to Crop

Drag and drop your PDF file here, or click the button below.

Crop Settings
Page 1 / 1
Adjust the crop box on the preview.
Drag the box on the preview to select the area to keep.
Page 1 Config Zone Not Set
Page 2 Config Zone Not Set
Position the box and click "Set Zone 1", then move it and click "Set Zone 2".
Document Preview

Crop PDF Online: The Ultimate Guide to Trimming Margins

Adjust page sizes, remove unwanted white space, and refine your document layout with our precision PDF Cropper. A secure, browser-based tool that puts you in control of your document's dimensions.

What is PDF Cropping?

Cropping a PDF is the process of reducing the visible area of a page. Unlike editing text or images, cropping changes the "viewport" of the document. It is akin to taking a pair of scissors to a physical piece of paper and cutting off the edges you don't need.

Why is this necessary? PDF files often come with excessive white margins, especially when scanned from physical books or saved from web pages. These extra margins make the content look small on mobile devices and waste paper when printing. ToolMini's PDF Cropper allows you to visually select the area you want to keep and discard the rest, instantly improving readability and presentation.

Two Powerful Modes: Standard & Split

We understand that different documents have different needs. That's why our tool offers two distinct cropping modes:

Standard Crop

This is the classic mode. You draw a single box on the preview page. Everything inside the box is kept; everything outside is removed. This is perfect for removing headers, footers, or wide side margins to focus on the main text body.

Split Page Mode

A unique feature for scanned books or dual-page spreads. If you have a PDF where two pages were scanned as one (e.g., a spread of a book), this mode allows you to define two separate crop zones. The tool will then split that single sheet into two separate pages in the final PDF, effectively "un-spreading" the document.

Why Crop Locally? (Client-Side Value)

Data privacy is a major concern when using online tools. Most other PDF editors require you to upload your file to their server. This means your private tax returns, legal contracts, or manuscript drafts are physically copied to a machine you don't control.

ToolMini uses WebAssembly technology to run the cropping engine directly in your browser.

  • Your Data Stays Put: The file never leaves your computer. We physically cannot see or store your document.
  • Lightning Fast: Because there is no upload or download lag, even large files load instantly. The cropping action happens in real-time on your processor.
  • High Precision: Our visual editor uses an HTML5 Canvas overlay, allowing you to see exactly what you are cutting with pixel-perfect accuracy.

Step-by-Step: How to Crop a PDF

  1. Upload Your File: Click the "Choose File" button or drag your PDF into the upload zone. The tool will load the first page into the visual editor.
  2. Choose Your Mode: Select "Standard" for simple margin trimming or "Split Page" if you need to cut one page into two.
  3. Draw Your Box: Click and drag on the document preview. A dashed box will appear showing the area that will be preserved. You can resize and move this box until it perfectly frames your content.
  4. Apply Scope: decide whether to apply this crop to All Pages (useful for uniform documents) or just the Current Page.
  5. Download: Click "Crop & Download". Your new file will be generated instantly and saved to your device with the suffix "_cropped".

Common Use Cases

Print Optimization

Remove printer marks, bleeding lines, or excessive white space to fit content onto standard Letter or A4 paper.

Mobile Readability

Crop out wide margins so that text appears larger and more readable on smartphones and tablets without zooming.

Book Splitting

Take a PDF where two book pages are scanned onto one landscape sheet and split them into individual portrait pages.

Receipt Management

Isolate specific receipts from a full-page scan of multiple items for expense reporting.

Image Extraction

Crop down to just a photo or diagram within a PDF page to save it as a standalone document.

Clean Up Scans

Remove black edges, hole punch marks, or scanning artifacts from the borders of digitized documents.

Understanding "Visual" Cropping

Some tools ask you to input margin values in inches or millimeters (e.g., "Crop 1 inch from top"). This is often a guessing game.

ToolMini uses a GUI (Graphical User Interface) approach. You see the document, and you draw the box. This "What You See Is What You Get" (WYSIWYG) method ensures you never accidentally cut off a line of text or a page number. It is the most intuitive way to manipulate PDF geometry.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Yes, it is 100% free. You can crop as many pages as you like without any watermarks or hidden fees.

Technically, PDF cropping often just hides the visual area (adjusts the "MediaBox" or "CropBox"). The content outside the box may still exist in the file data but is not displayed by viewers or printers. If you need complete data capability destruction for security (redaction), we recommend using a dedicated redaction tool or converting to image first.

Yes! Use the "Current Page Only" scope setting. Navigate to Page 1, set your crop, apply it, then navigate to Page 2 and set a different crop. Note: Our current simplified tool encourages uniform cropping or single-page actions. For complex multi-page varying crops, processing page-by-page might be best.

Split Mode allows you to define two areas on a single page (Zone 1 and Zone 2). When processed, the tool takes that one source page and creates TWO output pages. This is ideal for scanned books where two pages are on one sheet.

Absolutely. We use local client-side processing. Your file is never uploaded to our servers, ensuring total privacy.

No. You must unlock the file first. Use our Unlock PDF tool to remove the password, then upload the unlocked version here.

Sometimes, but not always. Since cropping mostly updates coordinate instructions rather than deleting image data, the file size might remain similar. To strictly reduce size, try our Compress PDF tool after cropping.

Yes, the tool is responsive. However, precise cropping is often easier with a mouse on a desktop or tablet screen rather than a small phone screen.

Your original file remains untouched on your device. We create and download a new copy with your changes applied.

In the editor, yes, simply resize the box before saving. Once downloaded, the crop is permanent on that specific file copy. You would need to start over with the original file to "undo" it.

This tool uses visual coordinates (pixels) relative to the screen. You don't need to know the inch measurements; you simply rely on the visual preview to align your crop.

The crop box cannot be larger than the original page or smaller than a minimum functional size (to prevent errors). It ensures valid geometry for the output file.

Currently, this is a manual visual tool. An "Auto-Detect Margins" feature that algorithmically finds whitespace is in development for a future version.

If you crop out a text area, it will no longer be selectable in the new view. The text inside the crop area remains selectable and searchable as normal.

This tool requires visual confirmation for the crop area, so it processes one file at a time. The "All Pages" setting allows you to bulk-crop 100 pages within a single file, but not 100 separate files simultaneously.