Crop PDF — Trim Margins & Auto-Fit Content
Automatically trim the white margins around your PDF content so it fills the page and reads comfortably on a phone or tablet.
The tool finds where the real content sits on each page, cuts away the extra white space, and keeps the margin you choose. It is especially handy for reading on small screens.
How to crop PDF margins (3 steps)
- Open the PDF with wide white margins.
- Set how much margin to keep.
- Run the crop and download the result.
How the content edges are found
Each page is examined as an image to find the top-, bottom-, left- and right-most points that aren't white. A new visible area is then set to fit that content, plus your chosen margin. Every page is measured separately, so a sparse page is cropped a lot and a full page barely at all.
- A small document scanned on an A4 scanner — the white surround is removed, leaving just the document.
- A textbook with very wide margins — the content fills a tablet screen.
- A long, narrow receipt — the sides are trimmed to the width of the receipt.
- A speck or smudge near the edge — it counts as content, so that edge isn't cropped.
- A colored background or full-page border — nothing is cropped, as there's no white margin.
How much margin to keep
- Reading on screen — little or none, so content fills the screen.
- Printing — leave some. Most printers can't print to the paper edge, so a tight crop can cut off outer text.
- Placing pages in another document — a little, so they don't look cramped.
Common uses
- Reading notes or books on a tablet — larger text without zooming on every page.
- Scanning cards or small documents on an A4 scanner — a file of the card itself, not a white sheet with a card in the corner.
- Page images for a report — crop first, then convert to images that fit the content.
- Before putting several pages on one sheet — the content comes out noticeably larger.
Good to know before you crop
- Nothing is deleted — content outside the new visible area stays in the file, and some programs may show the full page. To remove it for real, convert the result to an image-based PDF.
- Not a way to hide sensitive information — for that reason, use a redaction tool instead.
- Text stays selectable at the same quality — pages are not turned into images.
- Pages may end up different sizes — each is cropped to its own content. Resize to A4 afterwards to even them out.
- A mark near the edge stops the crop — a white margin left on one side usually means a small scanning speck there.
FAQ
Can each page have different margins?
Yes. Each page is analysed and cropped to fit its own content.
How does this help reading eBooks on an iPad?
With the margins gone, the content fills the screen without zooming.
Will cropping remove any text?
No. Only the empty area outside the content is trimmed.
Is the content outside the crop really gone?
No. It stays in the file. To remove it permanently, convert to an image-based PDF after cropping, and never rely on cropping to hide confidential information.
Why does one side of a page still have a white margin?
Usually a small scanning mark near that edge is treated as content. Try a cleaner scan, or remove the mark with a PDF editor first.
My pages are different sizes after cropping. What can I do?
Each page is cropped to its own content. For equal sizes, run the resize to A4 tool as a second step.