Scanned pages arrive surrounded by junk: black borders from the scanner lid, wide grey margins, a shadow down one edge, or the corner of the desk. Crop PDF trims the visible area down to the content you actually want.
Cropping in PDF works by adjusting the page's crop box — the rectangle that defines what a reader displays. You set it visually by dragging handles over a live page preview rather than guessing at millimetre values.
How to use Crop PDF
- 1Upload the PDF.
- 2Drag the crop handles on the page preview to frame the content you want to keep.
- 3Choose whether to apply the same crop to every page or only to the current one.
- 4Apply and download the trimmed document.
Cropping hides, it does not delete
Adjusting the crop box changes what is displayed, but the content outside it still exists in the file and can be recovered by resetting the box. Never use cropping to conceal confidential information — use Redact PDF, which destroys the underlying content.
Uniform versus per-page cropping
A batch scan usually has consistent margins, so one crop applied to all pages is fastest. Documents with mixed orientations or sizes need per-page handling, otherwise a uniform crop will cut into some pages and leave margins on others.
Cropping for small screens
Trimming generous margins from a text document meaningfully improves reading on a phone or e-reader, because the remaining text can render larger in the same screen width.
Supported formats, limits and things to know
- Content outside the crop box is hidden, not removed.
- File size barely changes, because the hidden content is retained.
- Encrypted documents must be unlocked first.
Crop PDF — frequently asked questions
Does cropping delete the content outside the box?
No. It is hidden from view but remains in the file. Use Redact PDF if the goal is to remove sensitive information.
Can I crop all pages at once?
Yes, if the pages share a layout. Mixed-size documents are better cropped page by page.
Will cropping make my file smaller?
Barely, because the hidden content is still stored. Use Compress PDF to reduce size.
How do I remove the black borders from a scan?
Drag the crop handles just inside the border so only the page content remains visible, then apply to all pages.
Can I undo a crop?
Your original is untouched — just re-upload it and crop again with different bounds.