Crop PDF

How Crop PDF works

Enter how much to trim from the top, right, bottom and left of the page, in millimetres, and every page is cropped by that amount. The measurements follow the page as it is displayed, so they are right even on pages that are rotated inside the file.

Cropping sets the visible area of each page, which is how PDF editors crop. Everything outside that area is hidden by every viewer and printer, but it is still stored in the file. That makes cropping reversible in a PDF editor, and it means cropping is not a way to remove confidential content: use Remove PDF Pages, or redact it in an editor, for that.

The change is made by pdf-lib inside this tab, and nothing on the page is re-rendered, so text and images keep their full quality.

The cropped file keeps its name with -cropped added. Cropping suits documents with a consistent layout, such as scans with the same border on every page, slides exported with wide margins, or pages made for printing that look small on a phone. It is also how to make a PDF read better on an e-reader or tablet: cutting 15 to 20 mm of white space from each side enlarges the text on a small screen without changing its quality. Several PDFs can be cropped with the same margins at once.

Crop PDF options explained

When to use it

Crop PDFs to remove wide white margins so pages read better on a phone or e-reader, to trim scanner borders and black edges, to cut printer marks from design proofs, or to make slides fill the screen.

Try a small amount first, such as 10 mm on each side, and check the result; margins differ between documents, and it is easy to cut into text.

About these PDF tools

The page tools, from merge and split to crop, resize, watermark and page numbers, use pdf-lib, an open-source JavaScript library that reads the structure of a PDF and writes a new one. Because it works on the page objects themselves rather than on pictures of them, text stays text, fonts stay embedded and vector drawings stay sharp, and nothing is added to your pages that you did not ask for. None of these tools edit what is already printed on a page: to change wording or fill a form, use a PDF editor. Password-protected PDFs must be unlocked first, since the pages cannot be read without the password. Every tool works on a copy, so the file on your device is never changed.

Crop PDF troubleshooting

"less than about 1 cm of the page"

The margins add up to more than the page size. Use smaller numbers.

Text near the edge was cut off

Crop the original again with smaller margins on that side.

Only some pages need cropping

Every page is cropped the same. Split out those pages, crop them, and merge the files back.

How to use Crop PDF, step by step

1. Press "Choose a PDF" or drag PDFs onto the box.
2. Set the options if you need to; the defaults suit most uses.
3. Press "Crop PDF". The work happens on your device.
4. Save the result with its download button.

Is it safe to do this online?

With most online tools, "online" means your file is uploaded to a company's server, processed there and kept for a while before it is deleted. Here it is not. The page downloads the tool's code to your browser, and your file is read and processed inside the tab on your own device. It is never sent to TapToConvert or anyone else.

You can check this yourself: once the page and its engine have loaded, turn off Wi-Fi and the tool still works. That also means there is no queue, no daily limit and no file size cap set by a server; the only limit is the memory your browser gives a single tab.