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Crop PDF

Trim the margins off every page. Free, and runs entirely in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded, stored or sent to a server.

About Crop PDF

Trims the margins off every page, or off the pages you name. Useful for a scan with a black border, a page exported with far too much white space, or a document being reflowed for an e-reader where every wasted millimetre costs readable text.

Cropping a PDF hides content, it does not delete it. A page has a media box, which is the sheet, and a crop box, which is the part a reader displays. This sets the crop box — which is why it is instant, lossless and completely reversible, and why the text outside the new edge is still sitting in the file for anyone who opens it with the right tool. If it has to be gone, the page needs rasterising or redacting, not cropping.

Measurements are in points: 72 to the inch, so an A4 page is 595 × 842 and a 36pt trim takes half an inch off. The preview shows the result at the new size, which is the fastest way to find the number you actually wanted.

Where it helps

  • Lossless and instant: nothing is re-rendered, so text stays selectable and file size barely moves.
  • Reversible, because the original page is still there behind the crop box.
  • Different amounts per edge, and different pages left alone entirely.
  • Reports the resulting page size, so a document can be trimmed to a known target.
  • The file stays in your browser.

Limits

  • Content outside the crop box is hidden rather than removed, and can be recovered by anybody who opens the file with the right tool. Never use it to hide sensitive material.
  • One set of margins for every page in the run: a document whose scans drifted needs several passes.
  • There is no automatic detection of where the content ends — the numbers are yours to choose.
  • A few older readers and printers ignore the crop box and show the full media box.
  • Password-protected files must be unlocked first.

Frequently asked questions

Is the cropped-off content really gone?

No. Cropping moves the window, not the content: the text and images outside the new edge remain in the file and can be brought back by resetting the crop box. For anything confidential, redact the page and then flatten or rasterise it.

What is a point?

A seventy-second of an inch, and the unit PDF measures everything in. A4 is 595 × 842 points, US Letter is 612 × 792, and 28 points is roughly a centimetre.

Can it find the margins for me?

Not yet. Detecting the content edge means rendering every page and scanning the pixels, which is a different and much slower operation than setting a box — the preview is the quick way to converge on the number.

Why does the page look unchanged in my reader?

A small number of viewers and print drivers use the media box and ignore the crop box. Opening it in a current browser or Acrobat will show the trim.

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