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pdf100% Browser-BasedUpdated Jul 2026

Crop PDF

A premium, privacy-first PDF cropping tool that works entirely in your browser. Upload any PDF and use the interactive crop rectangle to visually select the area you want to keep. Drag to reposition, resize from any edge or corner, or choose from preset aspect ratios like A4, Letter, or Square. Apply crops to the current page, selected pages, or all pages. Trim white margins automatically with one click. Live preview shows crop dimensions in real time. All processing happens locally — your files never leave your device.

Your Files Never Leave Your Device

All PDF cropping happens entirely in your browser. Your files are never uploaded to any server.

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Drag & drop a PDF file here, or click to browse.

PDF onlyUp to 250.0 MBPrivate · never uploaded

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about cropping PDF pages online

How does the Crop PDF tool work?
Upload your PDF and use the interactive crop rectangle to select the area you want to keep. Drag the rectangle to reposition it, or drag the edge and corner handles to resize it. Choose from preset aspect ratios like A4, Letter, or Square for consistent sizing. Apply the crop to the current page, selected pages, or all pages at once. All processing happens entirely in your browser — your files never leave your device.
Can I crop only specific pages?
Yes. Use the 'Apply To' dropdown to choose 'Current Page' to crop only the visible page, 'Selected Pages' to crop pages you've selected in the thumbnail strip, or 'All Pages' to apply the same crop to every page in the document. You can also set different crops for different pages by adjusting per-page before applying.
What are the preset ratios for?
Preset ratios help you quickly crop to common aspect ratios. 'A4' crops to 210 × 297mm (1:1.414), 'Letter' to 216 × 279mm (1:1.294), and 'Square' to a perfect 1:1 ratio. Select 'Custom' to freely resize the crop area. When you select a preset, the crop rectangle automatically snaps to the correct aspect ratio while maintaining its current position as much as possible.
How do I trim white margins automatically?
Click the 'Auto-Trim Margins' button in the Quick Actions section. The tool will analyze the current page content and automatically adjust the crop box to remove any empty white space around the edges. You can then fine-tune the result using the margin controls or by dragging the crop handles.
Is my PDF secure?
Absolutely. All PDF processing happens entirely in your browser using pdf-lib for document manipulation and pdf.js for rendering. Your files are never uploaded to any server. Once you close the page, all data is cleared from memory. This makes the tool safe for confidential or sensitive documents.
What happens to the quality after cropping?
Cropping a PDF does not affect the quality of the remaining content. The crop operation simply adjusts the page's MediaBox, which defines the visible area. All text, images, and vector graphics within the cropped area are preserved at their original quality. The file size may actually decrease slightly since the cropped content is removed.
Can I undo a crop adjustment?
Yes. The crop workspace supports full undo/redo (⌘Z / ⌘⇧Z). Each adjustment to the crop box is saved as a history entry, so you can freely experiment with different crop positions and revert if needed. The history is cleared when you upload a new file.
Can I crop a password-protected PDF?
Yes, as long as you have the document password. Use our Unlock PDF tool first to remove the password protection, then use the Crop PDF tool on the unlocked document. For owner-password protected files (restricted printing, etc.), pdf-lib can still process the file.
What is the maximum file size supported?
The tool supports PDF files up to 250 MB in size. For very large documents, the initial page rendering may take a few seconds. The interactive crop preview is optimized to be smooth even for high-resolution pages. If you experience performance issues, try cropping a smaller page range first.

How PDF Page Cropping Works

Learn about cropping PDF pages and best practices

What is PDF Cropping?

Cropping a PDF means defining a visible boundary — the MediaBox — that determines which portion of each page is displayed and printed. Unlike image editors that discard pixels, PDF cropping keeps the underlying content intact but hides anything outside the crop boundary. This makes it perfect for removing unwanted margins, trimming title blocks, isolating diagrams, or standardizing pages to a uniform aspect ratio.

Crop Box vs. Margins

The crop box defines the rectangular area you want to keep. Margins are an additional offset you can apply inward from the crop box edges — useful for adding breathing room around your content. For example, if you set a 10pt margin on all sides, the final visible area will be 10pt smaller on each edge. You can combine presets with margin adjustments for precise results.

Best Practices for Cropping

For consistent results across a document: (1) Preview a few pages to find the most common content area before cropping all pages. (2) Use preset ratios when you need uniform output dimensions. (3) Auto-trim margins first, then fine-tune with manual adjustments. (4) Apply crops to 'All Pages' only when the content layout is consistent throughout the document.

When to Use Per-Page Cropping

Per-page cropping is ideal for scanned documents where pages may be slightly misaligned, presentations with mixed content types, documents with wide margins on some pages but not others, or cleanup work where each page needs individual attention. Use 'Current Page' or 'Selected Pages' mode for these scenarios.

Understanding PDF Box Types

PDFs have several boxes: MediaBox (the physical page size), CropBox (the visible area), BleedBox (for professional printing), TrimBox (final trim size), and ArtBox (content area). Our tool modifies the CropBox, which is the standard way to define the visible area. The original MediaBox is preserved so cropping is reversible.

Cropping vs. Extracting vs. Splitting

Cropping keeps all pages but changes their visible area. Extracting creates a new PDF from a subset of pages without modifying page dimensions. Splitting divides a PDF into multiple files. Use crop when you want to keep all content but trim edges, extract when you only need specific pages, and split when you need separate files. All three can be combined for powerful document workflows.

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about cropping PDFs

How does the Crop PDF tool work?
Upload your PDF and use the interactive crop rectangle to select the area you want to keep. Drag the rectangle to reposition it, or drag the edge and corner handles to resize it. Choose from preset aspect ratios like A4, Letter, or Square for consistent sizing. Apply the crop to the current page, selected pages, or all pages at once. All processing happens entirely in your browser — your files never leave your device.
Can I crop only specific pages?
Yes. Use the 'Apply To' dropdown to choose 'Current Page' to crop only the visible page, 'Selected Pages' to crop pages you've selected in the thumbnail strip, or 'All Pages' to apply the same crop to every page in the document. You can also set different crops for different pages by adjusting per-page before applying.
What are the preset ratios for?
Preset ratios help you quickly crop to common aspect ratios. 'A4' crops to 210 × 297mm (1:1.414), 'Letter' to 216 × 279mm (1:1.294), and 'Square' to a perfect 1:1 ratio. Select 'Custom' to freely resize the crop area. When you select a preset, the crop rectangle automatically snaps to the correct aspect ratio while maintaining its current position as much as possible.
How do I trim white margins automatically?
Click the 'Auto-Trim Margins' button in the Quick Actions section. The tool will analyze the current page content and automatically adjust the crop box to remove any empty white space around the edges. You can then fine-tune the result using the margin controls or by dragging the crop handles.
Is my PDF secure?
Absolutely. All PDF processing happens entirely in your browser using pdf-lib for document manipulation and pdf.js for rendering. Your files are never uploaded to any server. Once you close the page, all data is cleared from memory. This makes the tool safe for confidential or sensitive documents.
What happens to the quality after cropping?
Cropping a PDF does not affect the quality of the remaining content. The crop operation simply adjusts the page's MediaBox, which defines the visible area. All text, images, and vector graphics within the cropped area are preserved at their original quality. The file size may actually decrease slightly since the cropped content is removed.
Can I undo a crop adjustment?
Yes. The crop workspace supports full undo/redo (⌘Z / ⌘⇧Z). Each adjustment to the crop box is saved as a history entry, so you can freely experiment with different crop positions and revert if needed. The history is cleared when you upload a new file.
Can I crop a password-protected PDF?
Yes, as long as you have the document password. Use our Unlock PDF tool first to remove the password protection, then use the Crop PDF tool on the unlocked document. For owner-password protected files (restricted printing, etc.), pdf-lib can still process the file.
What is the maximum file size supported?
The tool supports PDF files up to 250 MB in size. For very large documents, the initial page rendering may take a few seconds. The interactive crop preview is optimized to be smooth even for high-resolution pages. If you experience performance issues, try cropping a smaller page range first.

About Cropping PDFs

A complete guide to cropping PDF pages.

What is PDF Cropping?

Cropping a PDF means defining a visible boundary — the MediaBox — that determines which portion of each page is displayed and printed. Unlike image editors that discard pixels, PDF cropping keeps the underlying content intact but hides anything outside the crop boundary. This makes it perfect for removing unwanted margins, trimming title blocks, isolating diagrams, or standardizing pages to a uniform aspect ratio.

Crop Box vs. Margins

The crop box defines the rectangular area you want to keep. Margins are an additional offset you can apply inward from the crop box edges — useful for adding breathing room around your content. For example, if you set a 10pt margin on all sides, the final visible area will be 10pt smaller on each edge. You can combine presets with margin adjustments for precise results.

Best Practices for Cropping

For consistent results across a document: (1) Preview a few pages to find the most common content area before cropping all pages. (2) Use preset ratios when you need uniform output dimensions. (3) Auto-trim margins first, then fine-tune with manual adjustments. (4) Apply crops to 'All Pages' only when the content layout is consistent throughout the document.

When to Use Per-Page Cropping

Per-page cropping is ideal for scanned documents where pages may be slightly misaligned, presentations with mixed content types, documents with wide margins on some pages but not others, or cleanup work where each page needs individual attention. Use 'Current Page' or 'Selected Pages' mode for these scenarios.

Understanding PDF Box Types

PDFs have several boxes: MediaBox (the physical page size), CropBox (the visible area), BleedBox (for professional printing), TrimBox (final trim size), and ArtBox (content area). Our tool modifies the CropBox, which is the standard way to define the visible area. The original MediaBox is preserved so cropping is reversible.

Cropping vs. Extracting vs. Splitting

Cropping keeps all pages but changes their visible area. Extracting creates a new PDF from a subset of pages without modifying page dimensions. Splitting divides a PDF into multiple files. Use crop when you want to keep all content but trim edges, extract when you only need specific pages, and split when you need separate files. All three can be combined for powerful document workflows.

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