Wide white borders waste screen space, and scans often pick up dark scanner edges or the shadow of a book spine. Crop PDF trims an equal margin from all four sides of the pages you choose, so the content fills more of the page on screen and on paper. It changes the visible area of each page without redrawing anything, which keeps text sharp.
How to use Crop PDF
- Add the PDF and wait for the page grid.
- Enter a Crop margin in points. The default of 18 points is a quarter of an inch.
- Keep all pages selected, or choose Clear and select only the pages to crop.
- Select Crop Pages and check the result in a PDF viewer.
Understanding points
- What a point is: PDF measurements use points: 72 points make one inch, which is about 2.83 points per millimeter.
- The default margin: The default 18-point margin removes a quarter inch, roughly 6 mm, from each edge.
- Common conversions: To trim half an inch, enter 36. To trim one centimeter, enter 28.
- The cap: The margin is capped at a quarter of the page's width or height, whichever is smaller, so even a very large number can't crop a page away entirely.
Cropping hides content. It doesn't delete it
- A crop sets the visible box of each page. Anything outside that box stops being displayed or printed, but it stays inside the file, and anyone who resets the crop in an editing program can see it again.
- Why that matters: That matters if you're cropping to hide something sensitive, like an account number written in the margin.
- Use Redact PDF instead: For that job, use Redact PDF, which removes the underlying content.
- Where to read more: The PDF privacy guide explains the difference.
Equal margins and uneven scans
- The same amount from every side: This tool trims the same amount from every side, which suits documents with a consistent border, like slides exported with padding or pages scanned on a flatbed.
- Straighten tilted scans first: If a scan is tilted, straighten it first with Deskew PDF, since a crooked page needs a larger crop to hide its edges.
- Headed to a printer: When the document is headed to a printer, keep content clear of the trimmed edge. The print preparation guide covers safe margins.
When people use Crop PDF
Removing scanner edges
Trim the dark strips and shadows a flatbed scanner leaves around each page so the document looks clean on screen.
Tightening exported slides
Presentations exported to PDF often carry generous padding. Crop it so slides fill more of a laptop or tablet display.
Reading on small screens
Cut wide page margins from a report so the text appears larger when the PDF is read on a phone.
Limitations to know
Crop PDF trims an equal margin from every edge and can't select a custom area. Cropped content is hidden instead of deleted, and the file size doesn't change. The largest possible trim is a quarter of the page's smaller dimension.
Crop PDF: common questions
Can I crop just one side of the page?
Not with this tool. It removes the same margin from all four edges. If only one edge needs trimming, choose a margin that suits that edge while leaving enough room on the other three.
Is the cropped content really gone?
No. It's hidden outside the visible page area but remains in the file. Use Redact PDF for anything that must actually be removed before sharing.
Will cropping make the file smaller?
No. Cropping changes only the visible area, so text and images outside it are still stored. To reduce the file size, use Compress PDF.
What happens if I enter a very large margin?
The trim is limited to a quarter of the page's width or height, whichever is smaller, so a page can never be cropped to nothing. Any larger value is reduced to that limit automatically.