PDF page extractor: save chosen pages as a new PDF

How to extract pages from a PDF

To extract pages from a PDF, choose the file, type the pages to keep, then select Extract pages and Download PDF. The steps below use the labels on the page.

1. Select Choose PDF and pick one PDF file. The tool reads the page count and shows a line such as PDF ready: 12 pages.
2. In Pages to keep, type pages and ranges with commas between them, such as 1, 3-5. A line under the field says how many pages the new PDF will hold.
3. Select Extract pages, or press Enter in the field.
4. Select Download PDF. The tool names the download after the original and adds -extracted, so report.pdf becomes report-extracted.pdf.

After the run, the page shows the size of the original and of the new PDF. It also says when the new PDF is not smaller than the original. To make a different extraction, edit the page list and extract again. Start over clears the file, and Replace PDF lets you choose another one.

How the page list works

The Pages to keep field takes a list of items separated by commas. Each item is one page number or a range from low to high, such as 3-5. The new PDF follows the order you type, and a page you list twice appears twice.

For example, take a 4-page PDF and the list 4, 1-2, 4. The first 4 adds one page, 1-2 adds two and the last 4 adds one more. The new PDF has 1 + 2 + 1 = 4 pages in the order 4, 1, 2, 4. A test runs this exact list on a 4-page file and checks the result.

Page numbers are positions in the file, counted from 1. If a report's first page is printed as iv, type 1 for it. The field refuses a 0, a range that runs backwards such as 5-3, a page past the last one, an extra comma and words such as odd or last. The message under the field names the part to fix.

What the new PDF keeps

Each selected page keeps its size, crop box, rotation and drawing content. The tool copies the page content as it is, so text stays text and a scanned page stays an image.

Some PDFs give all pages one shared list of images and fonts. The tool checks which entries each selected page uses and leaves out the rest. In a test file where four pages share four images, extracting page 2 leaves one image in the new PDF. If the tool cannot read a page's drawing instructions, it copies everything the list names.

Form fields, filled or blank, become fixed page content and can no longer be filled in. Web links keep working. The new PDF leaves out links to other pages, bookmarks, file attachments and document details such as title and author.

A signed PDF loses its digital signature. The tool does not copy accessibility tags, page labels, print color profiles or layer settings, so a layer hidden in the original can show.

Limits

The tool takes one PDF and writes one new PDF. It cannot save pages as separate files or as JPG images. You choose pages by number, because the page shows no thumbnails.

Any encrypted PDF gets an error, even one that opens without a password, so choose an unprotected copy. A damaged file gets an error too, and so does a form with XFA data or an empty signature field. Exporting a new copy from your viewer may help.

Fewer pages do not always make a smaller file, because the tool does not compress images. A large scan stays large, and the tool stores a repeated page again in full.

The page sets no file size or page count limit of its own. A large or complex PDF can also need more memory than the tab has, and a failed run gives no partial download.