How to split the pages of a PDF
You have a long PDF and you only need a few pages: a chapter from a manual, a single invoice out of a pile, the three sheets they asked for from a forty-page contract. Pulling them out takes under a minute, it is free and there is nothing to install. I will walk you through it, and explain the difference between the two options it offers, which is where nearly everyone gets it wrong.
Go to iLovePDF
Open your browser and go to i love p d f.com. If it comes up in another language, you can change it from the top right corner. This is the home page with all the tools. The one we want now is Split PDF. And there we are.
Upload your PDF
Click the red button and pick your document, or drag it straight onto the box. For this example I am using an eight-page manual, and we are going to pull out just the chapter that runs from page three to five.
Choose: "Range" or "Pages"
And here is the important bit. Look at the top of the panel on the right: there are two tabs, and picking the wrong one is the most common mistake. The first, Range, pulls out a continuous chunk: from page three to five, and it gives you back a single PDF with those three pages. The second, Pages, does something different: it separates the pages you name into independent files, one per page. If you have a forty-page document and pick that one without thinking, you end up with forty loose files inside a zip. To pull out a chapter, the one you want is Range.
Type which pages you want
With the Range tab selected, two boxes appear below: from page, and to page. Type three in the first and five in the second. That is all. And notice the checkbox that says merge all ranges into one PDF: if you add several ranges and tick it, it joins them into a single file instead of giving you one per range.
Click "Split PDF"
Once the pages are right, click the red button on the right that says "Split PDF". It takes a few seconds, depending on how long the document is.
Download the result
And that is it. The download button appears and the PDF with your pages is saved to your downloads folder. If you pulled out several chunks separately, it arrives as a zip with all of them inside. Next to it, as always, are the icons to save it to Google Drive or Dropbox, create a link, or delete it from the server right away.
What happens to your files
And the usual about your files. The document is uploaded to a server so it can be split, and it is deleted there automatically after a few hours. For a manual or some lecture notes there is no problem. But if you are pulling pages out of a contract with bank details or a medical report, think twice: for that you are better off with a program that works on your own computer. And if you upload it anyway, click the bin when you are done to wipe it there and then.
And that is all: the pages you needed, pulled out in under a minute and for free. Remember what matters: Range to pull out a continuous chunk, and Pages to separate them all into loose files. If this helped, leave a like and subscribe — I post short, straight-to-the-point tutorials like this every week. See you in the next one.
Common questions
What is the difference between "Range" and "Pages"?
Range pulls out a continuous chunk and gives you back a single PDF: pages 3 to 5 in one three-page file, for example. Pages separates the ones you name into independent files, one per page. If you want a chapter, use Range. If you want each sheet on its own, use Pages. Picking the second by mistake is why a lot of people end up with a zip full of loose files.
Can I pull out pages that are not consecutive, like 2, 7 and 9?
Yes. In the Range tab you can add several ranges: one for 2, another for 7 and another for 9. If you tick the box to merge all ranges into one PDF, it gives you the three pages together in a single file. If you do not tick it, you get three separate files in a zip.
What are the Fixed and Smart modes?
Fixed cuts the document every X pages: you say "every 10" and it chops it into blocks of ten. Useful for breaking a huge document into equal parts. Smart tries to detect on its own where each section or document begins, which works well with scans of several invoices in a row. To pull out a specific chapter, the one you need is Custom, which is already selected.
Does splitting lose quality?
No. Splitting does not touch the content: it takes the pages you asked for and copies them as they are into a new file. Text stays text and images keep their resolution. What does reduce quality is compressing, which is a different tool.
Is there a page or size limit?
The free version caps the size per file. If your PDF is over it, the site tells you before processing. A way round it without paying: run it through the compress tool first to bring the weight down, then split it.
Is it safe to upload a contract or a medical report?
If it holds sensitive data, better not to upload it: use a program that works on your own computer. If you do use the site, the file travels encrypted, is processed on the iLovePDF server and is deleted automatically after a few hours; click the bin icon when you are done to wipe it there and then.
