16 Easy PDF Cropping Methods That Everyone Need to Know

After years of experiencing problems cropping PDF files received from colleagues, I finally decided to improve my knowledge by researching cropping pdf and the software that makes that possible. This article represents the results of my research on how to crop pdf files on more than 10 different software in Android, Mac and windows operating system. I hope this article can help you and be useful to you too.

To crop PDF, there are several methods and software, as well as online options and free features that are available by default in each operating system. In this article, we try to explain how to crop PDF in Android, iPhone, iPad and PC with Windows and Mac operating systems by using different programs such as

• Adobe Acrobat.

• Foxit.

• Illustrator.

• Blue beam.

• Microsoft Word.

• Power Point.

• OneNote.

• Preview.

• Free Methods.

• Online Method

Now I’m going to start answering this question by examining the software that can be used in Windows to crop a pdf file.

How to Crop Pdf in Windows

For croping Pdf in Windows you can use different methods here we are going to explain ten different Methods for it.

Crop a PDF in Adobe Acrobat DC

In Adobe Acrobat DC, you can crop and adjust a specific area of a page or multiple pages by using the “Crop Pages” tool which you can find under the “Edit PDF” sub-menu. Cropping pages can also help you make pages of different sizes look the same.

1. Go to Tools > Edit PDF menu, or find the “Edit PDF” toolset on the right-hand toolbar, and click on it.

2. Click Crop Pages, which is displayed above the document preview.

Crop a page of a PDF document in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC

3. Drag a rectangle on the specific area on the page you want to crop, or you can also drag the corner handles of the cropping rectangle to reach the size you want.

4. Press Enter or double-click inside the cropping rectangle.

5. The “Set Page Boxes” dialog box opens, prompting for the measurements of the cropping rectangle and the page to be cropped. You can override the crop area by filling the boxes with new values and clicking OK.

“Set Page Boxes” dialog box, prompting to define the crop properties

6. You can also apply these settings to more pages by defining a range of specific pages, or even clicking “All” under Page Range.

7. Click OK to confirm and crop the desired page or pages.

Adobe Acrobat Pro

1- Click on View

2- Click on Tools

3- Click on Pages

4- After that in the right side under “pages” tab, click on “Crop” key.

5- Draw a window in the pdf page to identify the limit of your crop page.

6- If you go the setting page box, in the Drop box select the Apply to box and then you can change the size of this windows too by changing the margin values.

7- select the “Constrain proportion” box to change the size of the Dropbox window equally.

• In the right side, you can see, the size of the dropped page.

8- For cropping pages automatically, select “Remove white Margins” box.

-If you want to crop a specific pages, click on “From” and write the page numbers.

9- Click on Ok to see the cropped page.

10- For retaining your first file click on “Save as” and save the new file with a different name.

How to Eliminate Cropped Part

For eliminating cropped part you should follow one of these ways;

First Method;

1- Click on File.

2- Click on “Revert” key.

Second Method;

1- Double click on the cropped page.

2- Click on “Set zero key”.

3- Click on ok.

“Margin Control” options definition, and which to choose in the “Set Page Boxes” dialog box

There are various options included in “Set Page Boxes” dialog box which you can decide to choose for cropping pages. The options are as follows:

Show All Boxes – Shows the black, red, green, and blue rectangles around the selected area, showing the CropBox, ArtBox, TrimBox, and BleedBox borders on the preview.

CropBox – Defines the content boundary of the page when it’s displayed or printed.

ArtBox – Defines the meaningful content of the page which also includes the blank space.

TrimBox – Defines the final dimensions of the page after trimming.

BleedBox – Intended to define the path for clipping, folding and trimming after the page is printed professionally. The printing marks should be printed outside the bleed area.

Constrain Proportions – the dimensional proportions of the area to be cropped will be locked.

Remove White Margins – the page will be cropped to the artwork boundaries; this option is mostly used to remove the edges of presentation slides that are saved as PDF documents.

Set to Zero – this option will set the crop margins to zero.

Revert to Selection – Resets to the margins to the previously selected to area with the Crop Page tool.

How to Crop Pdf Without Acrobat

How to Crop a PDF in Foxit

As discussed for the Adobe Acrobat Pro DC, Foxit Phantom PDF is another feature-rich software solution to create, edit and organize PDF documents, which is also capable of cropping pages. You can access this feature by right-clicking on the page or pages selected in the left-hand page preview pane, or from the “organize” tab, above the page.

Crop One or More Pages From the “page preview” Pane

1. Open the PDF document you want to crop.

2. Select the pages by right-clicking on the pages’ thumbnails, and choose “Crop Pages”.

3. You will be prompted with the “Set Page Dimensions” dialog box, in which you should specify the crop properties: select either CropBox, ArtBox, TrimBox, or BleedBox and adjust the proportions. The terms have already been defined in the previous section, and you can preview the changes by switching between the options on the right after checking the item.

4. A rectangle in the page thumbnail on the preview box shows the margins of the cropped area.

5. Set the page size and adjust the center of the page content if needed.

6. Choose the specific range of pages you intend to crop.

7. Choose the unit of the margin cropping values.

8. Click OK to finish the cropping process

Crop a Single Page in Foxit from the “Organize” Tab

1. From the menu bar go to ORGANIZE > Transform > Crop, and the mouse pointer will change to + sign. Drag over the area you want to crop and press Enter or double-click on it.

2. Likewise, in the pop-up dialog box, the marginal values indicate the size of the selected area. You can either click OK or change the values and define new properties in the dialog box.

Crop a PDF Page in Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator is a powerful vector graphic editor with extensive tools for designing and editing a diverse type of graphic files, including PDF documents. Searching for “Crop” command in Illustrator might bring you tricky and sometimes complex instructions, which are mostly used for editing image files. But actually, cropping a PDF is quite simple and straightforward in Illustrator.

1. Browse and open your PDF document either form the main menu “File > Open” or by pressing Control + O buttons on your keyboard.

2. If your PDF document contains multiple pages, you can either choose to open all or a certain range of pages.

Note: in some cases, you might be prompted with missing fonts in the document, you can either ignore the message, or download and add the missing fonts if necessary.

3. To crop a certain page, you have to select the page at first, and crop it by resizing the artboard size. So, you have to click on the “Artboard” icon on the left-hand toolbox, or by pushing “Shift” + “O” buttons on your keyboard.

4. To initiate the cropping process, you can either drag the sides or corners of the page, or manually input custom dimensions in the “Artboard Properties” window, under te “Transform” submenu. You can also find some predefined sizes and dimensions under the “Presets” dropdown menu.

5. Once finished, you can choose to save the cropped pages as a new file, or overwrite them on your pre-existing file.

Cropping PDF in Bluebeam

Bluebeam Revu is a powerful tool for creating, annotating and sharing documents, so you can make sure to keep up with your team. Like the other document editing tools, it includes a cropping tool which helps you trim the unwanted parts in your PDF document.

1. Open your PDF document with Bluebeam, and make sure to view the page you want to crop in the main workspace.

2. From the main menu navigate to “Document > Pages > Crop Pages”. The dialog box will open, in which the “Crop Pages” tab is selected.

3. Select the Box dropdown menu with the option that you have in mind (the terms have already been defined in the first section).

4. To determine and adjust the crop area you can enter the values of margins on each side manually, or click on the “Get Window” button, by which the document page will be displayed and you can select and adjust your crop area by dragging and drawing a rectangle on it.

5. Additionally, you can choose to apply the crop area settings to any specific page or range of pages in your PDF document by selecting from the Pages dropdown list (it is set to the currently active page by default). The options are:

o All Pages: will crop all pages with the adjusted properties.

o Current: crops only the current page. The page number will be displayed in parentheses.

o Selected: Sets the range to the current selection.

o Custom: Sets the range to a custom value. When this option is selected the list becomes a text box, in which you can define a specific range of pages by using a combination of “- “ and comma “,” symbols. For example: 1-3, 5, 9 will include pages 1, 2, 3, 5 and 9.

6. Click OK to run the command.

Crop PDF in Microsoft Word

Cropping a page in a PDF document in Microsoft Word may not be much similar to the previous solutions that we have discussed, but Microsoft has decided to add some PDF compatibility and editing features in some of its Office products, since releasing the 2016 versions of these packages.

Although Microsoft Word may not be as powerful as other professional PDF editors, it is capable of opening and preserving the original layout of the document to some extent, and at the same time enabling you do some common editing jobs, which of course includes editing text and image size and properties along with page size and margins.

1. Open Word 2016 or 2019

2. Go to “File > Open” and Browse for your PDF document. Select the PDF file and click to Open.

3. after clicking Open, you will be prompted with a dialog box, stating that Microsoft Word will change the PDF Document into an editable word document. It also warns that opening larger files may take longer, and the layout in Word may not be exactly like the original PDF.

Hereafter, you have total control on what you intend to do, and you can easily add new text or objects, edit and delete data, or reformat the whole document as you type. You can easily remove, replace, or reposition the objects and images, and rearrange the paragraph styles. You can also change or modify the page size, the line spacing, the font and font size, the margins, and all the attributes you may need to modify.

4. If you have a picture on your file you can crop it by following these steps;

• Click on the picture.

• Click on Format tab.

• Click on the Crop and crop that picture as you want.

5. Once you are done editing the document, choose “File > Save As”, navigate to your destination folder, and choose “PDF” from the “Save as Type” dropdown list.

6. You can choose to optimize for Standard (publishing online and printing) purposes or Minimize size for publishing or sending it online, and check the box for Open File After Publishing, then click Save.

7. You can also choose the “export” option to save the document as a PDF file. In this case go to “File > Export”, and select “Create PDF/XPS Document”.

8. Just like the previous section, you can either choose “Optimize for Standard (publishing online and printing)” or “Minimize Size (Publishing Online)” options based on your interest, and check the box for “Open File After Publishing” if you want view your PDF file after it’s saved. Then click the Publish button and your new PDF is created.

How to Crop a PDF in PowerPoint

Microsoft PowerPoint is basically a program to create and edit Slideshows and presentations with tons of features, in which you can put together various types of data such as text, images, video and audio files, apply transitions and animation effects, and etc. cropping a PDF file like the professional PDF editing tools is not possible in Microsoft PowerPoint, however, there are some basic tools and tricks, which make it possible to crop a particular area of a PDF document in a PowerPoint without the need of any other third party PDF editor tool.

1. Open your PDF document and go to the specific page that you want to crop.

2. PowerPoint, create a new file, and from the “Insert” tab, click on the “Take a Screenshot” button on the ribbon.

3. The Microsoft PowerPoint workspace screen will be minimized, and the mouse cursor will turn into + sign, ready to select any certain area on the screen, and in this case, any specific area within a PDF document page.

4. Proceed by dragging over the area that you want to crop, and once finished, the selected area will be copied to clipboard, and pasted on the presentation slide simultaneously.

5. You can further enlarge and rescale the clipped image on the slide, to match your desired size by either dragging from the sides or corners, or using “resize” command, from the right-click context menu.

6. You can even crop a part of the clipped image later within PowerPoint workspace by double clicking on the image, and acceding the “crop” tool from the “Format” tab.

7. Once finished adjusting the picture size and slide dimensions, you can save your slide a new PDF file. (see save as options in the previous section, for Microsoft word)

How to Crop PDF in OneNote;

The following steps should be used to crop a PDF file and insert the portion in your OneNote notebook:

1. Open your PDF file in the background of your desktop.

2. Launch the OneNote software.

3. Click on the Insert tab,

4. Click on the Screen Clipping option from the Images section.

5. Select the part of the PDF file that you want to crop and insert in your OneNote notebooks.

6. Now you have the picture of your PDF file in your notebooks and you can copy the text from this picture and paste it into your notebooks.

How to Crop a PDF File Using the Snipping Tool in Windows10.

1. Open your PDF file.

2. Find the page or section you want to crop.

Now you should open the Snipping tools in your computer.

• At the bottom-left of the screen, click on the search bar of your PC.

• Search the Snipping Tool title, then click on it.

3. On the top-left of the screen, click on the New option in the Snipping Tool window or Press Ctrl + N on your keyboard.

4. Go to your PDF file and select the draw a windows on the part that you want to crop it.

5. this section will be shown in your Snipping Tool window, here you can crop, highlight and …

6. Save your file, for that you can click on the floppy disk at the top of the snipping tool menu or hold Ctrl and then press S on your keyboard.

7. Choose the location which you want to save your file, the name and your desired format for it.

8. Click on the Save.

Crop a PDF File Using the Print Screen option in Windows10.

1. Open your PDF file.

2. Find the page or section you wish to crop.

3. Hold the Windows key and then press “prt sc” key on your keyboard.

4. Open Paint app on your computer for that you can write Paint on the search bar in your computer and then click on it.

5. Press Ctrl + V to paste the picture which you selected before.

6. If you want you can edit it and then save your file with the format and name on the place that you like.

How to Crop PDF in Mac

Preview

Preview is the Mac OS’s native image and PDF viewer and editor. It offers a lot of features and you can easily use it to crop PDF pages, but there is a limitation here, and you can use it to crop a single page at a time. What you should do is:

1. Open the document you want to crop, in the “Preview” app.

2. Click on the Pen icon on the upper right hand of the toolbar, or enable “Show Markup Toolbar” from the “View” menu, so you can select and use the “Rectangular Selection” tool

3. Drag a rectangle over the area you want to crop. (you can enable it to view the dimensions and measurements form the “Tools > Show Inspector” menu). The “Crop” button will appear once finished.

Click on the “Crop” button to execute and finish the process.

How to Crop a PDF File on Mac system Free.

1. Open PDF file.

2. Find the page or section you want to crop.

3. Press the Command + Shift + 4, keys at the same time On your keyboard.

4. After your cursor changed to crosshair shape, select the area which you want to crop it.

5. This selected area will be saved as an image file on your desktop.

You can also copy one part of your pdf file and paste it to another application, for that you can follow these steps;

1. Open your PDF file.

2. Find the page or section you want to crop.

3. Press the Command + Shift + Control + 3, keys at the same time On your keyboard.

4. Open your application that can edit the image. You can use Photoshop Adobe.

5. To paste the portion you have cropped, press the Command + V keys at the same time On your keyboard p.

6. Save your file after your editting were completed.

How to Crop PDF in Mobile

In this section, we will discuss cropping pdf on mobile with Android and iPhone operating systems. We will also examine the issue on iPad devices.

How to Crop PDF in Android

Cropping PDF Using CamScanner

1. As you would with any other application, first head to Google Play Store and search for CamScanner.

2. Once you’ve downloaded and installed the app on your device, open it and look for the document you want to crop.

3. After the document is opened, select the page you wish to crop, then click on the crop icon located on the screen’s top-right side.

4. Now you’ll be directed to the crop page. Here you can easily drag the sides of your document and release them at the spot you wish. For this, just press and hold on each of the circles and drag them to crop the page.

5. When you’re done cropping the page, press ‘Next’ at the bottom-right side of the screen.

6. In this section, you can apply a special effect to the page you’ve just cropped. This step is optional and based on your own preference.

7. After you’re finished with the previous step, press ‘Save’ at the bottom-right corner of the screen. Since the application will make these changes to the original document, make sure you have a backup copy.

Cropping PDF Using Foxit PDF Reader

1. First of all, go to Google Play Store and download and install it on your mobile phone. If you wish, you can also get it from the web.

2. By default, you should see all the pdf documents on your device once you open the app. If not, simply press the menu icon on the top-left side of the screen and select ‘Documents.’

3. After the document is opened, from the bottom menu, press the second icon to the left and scroll down until you see the ‘Crop Mode’ option.

4. Select it and choose ‘Manually crop pages.’

5. Now you just have to drag the circles around to crop the page as you prefer. Be aware that the app automatically applies the crop effect to all the pages of your document.

6. In case you want to reverse the crop effect, press ‘Crop Mode’ again, and this time, select ‘Remove all page cropping.’

Cropping PDF Using Xodo PDF Reader & Editor

1. Download and install the application from the Google Play store.

2. Launch the application and by pressing the menu icon at the top-left of your screen, browse through your files to find the document you wish to crop.

3. Once the document is opened, press the icon next to ‘Share’ from the top menu.

4. A box titled ‘Viewing Mode’ will open. Tap on ‘Crop Pages’ and select ‘Manually crop pages.’

5. Now the only thing you have to do is drag the corners or sides of your document to crop it and then press ‘Apply Crop.’ You also have the option of applying the crop mode to either even or odd pages, depending on the page you’re currently viewing.

People often avoid online editing methods because the contents of their documents are important to them. If this is not your concern, you can use online editing methods to crop your PDF document too. Here I am going to introduce you a website that offer such services. I hope you find this information helpful.

How to Crop PDF File Online

There might be some circumstances where you don’t have access to any of the above-mentioned software and tools, it can be a newly installed system, or an operating system that doesn’t support any of the programs above. In this case you can use some online tools to crop your PDF file. There are quite a number of websites, offering to crop PDF documents online, although the basic principle among them is the same. We will cover pdf.online as a sample, which is effective and powerful, though with a simple design and interface. you can find more websites online, and compare the capabilities based on your needs and interests.

1. Open Pdf Online page and scroll down to find “Crop PDF” link.

2. Click on the “Select file” link, and you can upload your PDF file directly from your device, or you can browse it from your online storage spaces, like Google Drive or Dropbox in this case. You might need to wait for some time, because it may take a while for your file to be entirely uploaded based on the size and your internet speed.

3. Once uploaded, you will see a preview of your file on the screen, where you can select and define the crop area by dragging over the page. If your file contains more than one page, you can choose to crop only a specific page, or apply the command to all of the pages within the document. You can also switch between page display preview modes by clicking on the settings button on the left, and click on the display layout you like more.

4. After selecting, click on the selected area, and a button will show up, asking you to apply or abort the crop command. Click on “Apply” if the crop sizes are right.

5. Once done, you can download the cropped version of your file by clicking on the “Download cropped document” link, above the page.