Crop multiple pages in a pdf file

I can use Preview app to select a region and crop a page. Can I do the same cropping for a whole pages in pdf? Are there tools (commercial or free) available for it?

asked May 25, 2011 at 0:35 5,704 13 13 gold badges 53 53 silver badges 85 85 bronze badges

1 Answer 1

I got a hint that works from this page

  1. Using the Sidebar, make it Thumbnails view, and Select All pages (Cmd-A)
  2. Select the area to crop using Tools >Rectangular Select
  3. Do the Tools >Crop (Cmd-K)
5,108 2 2 gold badges 33 33 silver badges 59 59 bronze badges answered May 25, 2011 at 0:51 5,704 13 13 gold badges 53 53 silver badges 85 85 bronze badges Haven't tested yet, but if that works, sick. Commented May 25, 2011 at 1:42 @hobs : It works, I checked that. Commented May 25, 2011 at 1:53

Useful hints to go along with this: (1) Right click in the thumbnail view and select columns -> 2 to display 2 columns of thumbnails. This allows you to easily select all the even or odd pages, which can be useful if you need to crop them differently. (2) Open the ruler tab of the inspector to see details on what you are cropping.

Commented May 25, 2011 at 2:28

@nathang: Thanks for the hint, it's exactly what I wanted to do. The really sad thing is that Apple keeps removing features from its softwares to optimize for the most stupid users. They don't want to confuse them with perfectly functioning and useful stuff. The multi column option of the thumbnail view has fallen victim to this over-simplification for which I really hate them. Thankfully I've never upgraded(?) my old laptop still running OSX 10.6 with Preview 5.0.3 still having this feature. May all 1-button Apple mouse and other over-simplified unusable "designer" hw/sw burn in hell. :D

Commented Jun 22, 2013 at 15:39

Cropping only even or odd pages is still possible in OS X 10.10, it's just a bit more cumbersome: (1) Select "View -> Contact Sheet". (2) Zoom in and make the window narrow so that you get two columns. (3) Start dragging over one of the columns (you'll get a rectangle selection) and while holding the mouse button down, press Fn+Down to scroll all the way down. Now one entire column should be selected. (4) Select "View -> Thumbnails" to switch back. (5) Crop as described in this answer. It will crop only the even or odd pages.