Optimize PDF · guide
What Crop PDF does
Crop PDF trims the edges off pages: drag the crop box on a preview of the page to where each edge should be, and apply it to every page or only the ones you name. Cropping changes only the visible area and size of each page, so nothing is re-encoded, but it hides what falls outside the box rather than deleting it. The file stays in your browser.
How to crop PDF in your browser
- Choose one PDF Select the PDF to crop. A preview of the page appears in this tab; nothing is uploaded.
- Set the crop Drag the edges of the crop box to where the page should end; Reset puts it back, and the arrows above the preview show the box on other pages. Leave Pages to crop empty to crop every page, or enter pages such as 1-3, 7.
- Crop and save Select Crop the pages, check the result, then save the new PDF.
Worked example
Trim the 1-inch margins off a US Letter handout.
- Starting point
- A 12-page handout on US Letter, 612 × 792 points, with about 72 points of white space on every side.
- What to do
- Drag each edge in to the text, keeping captions and page numbers inside, until the line under the preview reads close to “468 × 648 pt kept · 37% trimmed away”. Leave Pages to crop empty and select Crop the pages.
- Result
- Expect all 12 pages at about 468 × 648 points (6.5 × 9 inches), with text still selectable. The margins are hidden, not deleted.
If the result is not right
If no pages change, check the page selection. For clipped labels, enlarge the box and inspect pages with different sizes or rotations individually.
Limits worth knowing
- Cropped-out material can still exist in the file. Use Redact when information must be removed rather than hidden.
Questions and answers
Does cropping a PDF delete the content outside the crop?
No. Cropping hides everything outside the box, but it is still in the file, and anyone who enlarges the page again with a PDF editor gets it back, so never rely on a crop to remove sensitive information. Use Redact PDF instead: it rebuilds each page you mark as an image with the marked areas painted black, then checks that page has no text left to extract.
Does cropping reduce the quality of a PDF?
No. Only the visible area of each page changes; the text, images and fonts are left exactly as they were, so cropped pages stay as sharp as before and text stays searchable.
Can I crop different pages differently?
One box per run. It is applied to every page you list at the same position as a share of the page, so on a mix of page sizes the same proportion comes off each, not the same distance. For a different crop elsewhere, run Crop again on the saved file with other pages listed. To trim to the content automatically instead of drawing a box, use Auto crop PDF.
How do I crop to an exact size?
Watch the line under the preview: it gives the size you are keeping in points, where 72 points make an inch, and the share trimmed away. Drag the edges close, then select the box and nudge it with the arrow keys, half a percent of the page at a time, or 5% with Shift held. For reference, A4 is 595 × 842 points and US Letter is 612 × 792.
Will the cropped PDF print at the new size?
Yes. Both the visible area and the page size change, so printers and other PDF apps treat the cropped page as the new page size, not as a large page with hidden margins. Printing with fit to page enlarges what you kept to fill the paper; printing at actual size keeps it at its original scale with blank paper around it.