pdf-splitter.pdf FILE #B29696 PAGE 01/06
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▤ DOCUMENT · PDF-SPLITTER

PDF Splitter

Extract specific pages or ranges from a PDF into separate files.

local processing no upload archive ready
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▤ WORKSPACE
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▤ NOTES & SPECIFICATION

Split vs. Extract: Choosing the Right Approach for Your Document

When people say they want to "split" a PDF, they usually mean one of two different operations: extract a subset of pages into a new file (while keeping the original intact), or break a single file into multiple separate files — one per chapter, one per invoice, one per section. This tool does the former: you define which pages you want, and it creates one new PDF containing exactly those pages. The source file is never modified.

If you need to produce multiple output files from one source — say, separating 12 monthly invoices that were scanned as a 60-page document — run the tool once per output file, each time specifying the relevant page range. There is no batch mode, but browser-based processing is fast enough that even a dozen runs on the same source PDF takes under a minute.

Understanding What Gets Carried Over

Splitting copies page content faithfully: text, images, embedded fonts, vector graphics, annotations. Several things are handled differently:

  • Bookmarks: the output PDF does not inherit bookmarks from the source unless those bookmarks happen to target the extracted pages. The output has no outline navigation.
  • Page labels: if the source PDF uses page labels (Roman numerals for front matter, then Arabic numerals for chapters), the extracted pages keep their visual page numbers in content but the PDF page label metadata is not reconstructed. Page 1 of the output is always PDF page 1, regardless of source labeling.
  • Cross-references and hyperlinks: internal hyperlinks that point to a page not included in the extracted range will lead nowhere in the output. External URLs are preserved.
  • Digital signatures: invalidated by any extraction, same as merging.

Page Counting in PDFs — A Hidden Trap

PDF page numbering shown in a viewer does not always match the internal PDF page index used by splitting tools. Many documents have a cover page, blank pages, or Roman-numeral front matter that a viewer hides or renumbers. This tool uses the physical PDF page index — page 1 is always the first byte-level page in the file, regardless of how it is labeled. If page 3 of a document visually appears as "page i," you need to count from the physical first page to determine the correct range to extract.

How to Use This Tool

  1. Upload your PDF.
  2. Enter the page range to extract: single pages (5), ranges (1-3), or combinations (1-3, 5, 8-10). Page numbers are 1-based.
  3. Click "Split PDF."
  4. Download the new file containing only the pages you specified.

Processing is entirely local via pdf-lib. Your file is never uploaded.

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▤ QUESTIONS
01 The page numbers I see in the PDF viewer are different from what the tool uses. Why? +

PDF viewers often display logical page labels (Roman numerals for front matter, section-specific numbering) while this tool uses physical page indices — the sequential order of pages in the file starting at 1. Count manually from the beginning of the document if logical and physical numbering differ.

02 Will internal hyperlinks still work after splitting? +

Internal links that point to a page included in the extracted range will work if the target page is present. Links to excluded pages will lead to blank destinations. External (URL) links are always preserved.

03 Can I reverse-extract — keep everything except a few pages? +

Not directly with the splitter syntax. For that workflow, use the PDF Page Remover tool, which lets you specify pages to delete rather than pages to keep.

04 Is there a page count limit? +

No hard limit. The practical limit is browser memory. Extracting 100 pages from a 500-page PDF with large embedded images may require a few seconds, but will complete on any modern device.