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Split PDF Files Online Free

Cut one PDF into the files you actually need.

Click between pages to place a cut, split every few pages, or pick out just the pages you want. Each colour below becomes its own PDF.

content_cutCut between pagesview_weekEvery N pageschecklistExtract pages

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contract-bundle.pdf · click + to cut

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contract-bundle_p1.pdf1 page · 180 KBcontract-bundle_p2-5.pdf4 pages · 164 KBcontract-bundle_p6-8.pdf3 pages · 1.3 MBcontract-bundle_p9-12.pdf4 pages · 484 KB

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4 PDFs are readyfrom contract-bundle.pdf · 12 pages

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~/page-ranges

Type the pages instead of clicking them.

For long documents, a page range is quicker than clicking. It's the same notation print dialogs use, so it works the same way here as in Word or Acrobat.

5A single page2-7Pages 2 through 7, inclusive9-Page 9 to the end: no need to know the page count1, 4, 8Commas separate as many pages or ranges as you likeoddEvery odd page: handy for scans of double-sided paper

try it · 24-page document

1-3, 6, 9-odd-4, last2, 10-12, 20

123456789101112131415161718192021222324

check_circle20 pages selected. They’ll be saved in page order as one new PDF.

~/what-survives-the-split

Pages come out identical. Links between them don't always.

Splitting copies pages exactly: nothing is re-rendered or recompressed. What changes is anything that pointed from one part of the document to another.

check_circleKeptText, images and fontsPages are copied byte for byte, so quality doesn’t change and text stays searchable.A 300 dpi scan is still 300 dpi in every part.

check_circleKeptBookmarks inside each partEach file keeps the bookmarks that point to its own pages, renumbered from page 1.“Appendix A” on page 6 becomes page 1 of part 3.

warningChangesLinks to other partsA “see page 9” link only works if page 9 ends up in the same file. Otherwise it’s removed.Tip: keep a table of contents with the pages it links to.

cancelBreaksDigital signaturesA signature covers the whole original file, so any part of it shows as “modified”.Split before signing, or keep the signed original too.

~/how-pages-are-stored

A PDF doesn't keep its pages in a list.

Pages hang off a page tree: /Pages nodes with /Kids arrays, ending in /Page leaves. Page size, fonts and rotation can be set on any node, and every page below it inherits them. Choose a tree shape, then click a page to see where each of its settings comes from.

binary · 2 per node4 per nodeflat · 12 per node

4 /Pages nodes · depth 2

obj 2Count 12

obj 3Count 4

obj 4/Rotate 90

obj 5Count 4

p1obj 6

p2obj 8

p3obj 10

p4obj 12

p5 ↻obj 14

p6 ↻obj 16

p7 ↻obj 18

p8 ↻obj 20

p9obj 22

p10obj 24

p11obj 26

p12obj 28

path to the selected pagenode that sets /Rotate 90↻ landscape pages 5-8

Why this matters when splitting: the new file gets a fresh page tree, and the old node that set /Rotate isn't part of it. A careful splitter copies every inherited value down onto each page first. A careless one produces landscape pages that open sideways.

lookup path · page 6

descriptionobj 1 · /Catalogaccount_treeobj 2 · /Pages · Count 12account_treeobj 4 · /Pages · Count 4draftobj 16 · /Page · page 6

resolved attributes

/MediaBox[0 0 612 792] · US Letterinherited from obj 2 (root /Pages)

/Resources/F1 Helvetica, /Im1 logoinherited from obj 2 (root /Pages)

/Rotate90inherited from obj 4 (/Pages)

/CropBoxsame as /MediaBoxdefault: falls back to the media box

In a 10,000-page file, this shape needs 7 levels, so a viewer follows 7 /Kids arrays of at most 4 entries to reach any page.

~/a-real-split

Your cuts, as real PDF files.

Your browser builds contract-bundle.pdf as a real 12-page PDF, using the page tree above. It then splits the file at the cuts you set at the top of the page. Every number here is a byte count from a file you can download and open.

original14,325 BOne file, one copy of the font and logo.

all parts together37,274 B4 files from your cuts.

cost of splitting+22,949 BShared objects and the file overhead are repeated in every part.

picture_as_pdfcontract-bundle.pdf12 pages · 31 objects · 14,325 Bdownloadparts from your cuts · click to inspectdownload pages · No pages selected at the top yet, so there's nothing to split.

part 1 objectscountbyteswhat it is

Catalog×149Document root, pointing at the page tree.

Pages×157A new, flat page tree listing only this part's pages.

Page×1177Page dictionaries with inherited values copied in.

Content×1430The drawing instructions, copied byte for byte.

Font×170Shared by every page, so every part needs its own copy.

Image×17,059The 48 × 48 logo on every page, also copied into each part.

Header + xref-219Header, cross-reference table (20 bytes per object) and trailer.

page 1 in the original · obj 6

<< /Type /Page /Parent 3 0 R /CropBox [36 36 576 756] /Contents 7 0 R>>

page 1 in part 1 · obj 3

<< /Type /Page /Parent 2 0 R /MediaBox [0 0 612 792] /CropBox [36 36 576 756] /Resources << /Font << /F1 5 0 R >> /XObject << /Im1 6 0 R >> >> /Contents 4 0 R>>

The part's page carries its own /MediaBox, /Resources and, for pages 5-8, /Rotate. The output is the same whichever tree shape you chose above, because the parts no longer inherit anything.

~/reference

Everything a splitter has to rewrite.

Copying pages is the easy part. These structures point across pages or live at document level, so a splitter has to rebuild or prune each of them for every part. Clause numbers refer to ISO 32000-1 (PDF 1.7).

structurelives inwhat a good splitter doesclause

Page tree/Pages /Kids /ParentRebuilt from scratch: each part gets a new root listing only its own pages.§7.7.3

Inherited attributesany /Pages nodeResources, MediaBox, CropBox and Rotate are copied down onto each page before the old tree is dropped.§7.7.3.4

Link annotationspage /AnnotsKept if the target page is in the same part. Otherwise removed, or rewritten as a link to the other file (GoToR).§12.5.6.5

Named destinationscatalog /Names /DestsOnly names that point into this part are copied over.§12.3.2.3

Bookmarkscatalog /OutlinesPruned to entries whose target survives; empty parents are removed and counts fixed.§12.3.3

Page labelscatalog /PageLabelsRe-based so a part that starts on page “iv” can still be labelled iv.§12.4.2

Form fieldscatalog /AcroFormA field with widgets in several parts is copied into each, and the copies no longer share a value.§12.7

Tagged structurecatalog /StructTreeRootStructure for removed pages is pruned. Skipping this leaves a part that claims to be tagged but isn't.§14.7

Article threadscatalog /Threads, page /BBeads on pages outside the part are unlinked from the thread.§12.4.3

Signaturessignature /ByteRangeCan't be carried over: the bytes the signature covered no longer exist in any part.§12.8

How page-level structure grew

1993PDF 1.0The page tree with inheritance, bookmarks and link annotations are there from the start.

1996PDF 1.2Interactive forms (AcroForm) add fields whose widgets can sit on any page.

1999PDF 1.3Page labels and digital signatures arrive.

2001PDF 1.4Tagged PDF adds a structure tree that spans the whole document.

2004pdftkIts burst command makes one-file-per-page splitting a one-line job.

2008qpdfAn open-source tool for structural PDF changes, including page selection and splitting.

2008ISO 32000-1PDF 1.7 becomes an ISO standard, with a free copy from Adobe.

2017PDF 2.0ISO 32000-2 keeps the page tree model unchanged.

~/after-splitting

The other half of the job.

Splitting is often the first step: pull pages out, then recombine, shrink or turn them into images.

mergeMerge PDFRecombine pages from different files in a new order, the reverse of splitting.part-1 + part-3arrow_forwardcombined.pdf compressCompress PDFA split part with scanned pages can still be heavy. Shrink it to fit an email or upload form.p6-7.pdf · 1.2 MBarrow_forward310 KB imageImage to PDFGoing the other way: turn photos of paper pages back into one tidy PDF.4 photosarrow_forwardreceipts.pdf

Sources

[1]PDF 2.0The standard that defines pages, bookmarks (outlines) and links inside a PDF.ISO 32000-2 · ISO ↗[2]Digital signatures in PDFWhy any change after signing, including removing pages, invalidates a signature.Adobe Help ↗[3]Printing page rangesThe same range notation used by print dialogs across desktop apps.Microsoft Support ↗[4]PDF 1.7 (ISO 32000-1)Free copy of the standard. Clause 7.7.3 covers the page tree and inheritance.Adobe / ISO ↗[5]qpdf manualPage selection and splitting, including how inherited attributes are pushed down to pages.qpdf ↗[6]PDFtk ServerCommand-line tool whose burst and cat operations popularised PDF splitting.PDF Labs ↗