How to save only the pages you need from a PDF

If you need only a few pages of a PDF, you don’t have to touch the original. You copy just those pages into a new PDF. Decide first whether you want the pages in one file or in separate files, then type a page range such as 1-3, 5, 8-. This guide covers how to write page ranges, what the result files are named, and what carries over to the new file.

One file or several files?

There are three ways to pull pages out of a PDF, depending on how many files you want back. The Split method options in Split PDF match these three.

Split method	What you get	Good for
One file per range (default)	Each comma-separated range becomes its own PDF	Keeping a contract’s main body and its attachments apart
Extract into one file	The pages you enter, in the order you enter them, in a single PDF	Collecting only the pages an application asks for
Split every page	Every page as its own one-page PDF	Breaking a scanned batch into single sheets

With a 10-page test PDF and the ranges 1-3, 5, 8-10, One file per range gave three PDFs (3 pages, 1 page and 3 pages) in one ZIP, and Extract into one file gave a single 7-page PDF. Split every page gave 10 PDFs in one ZIP. (Measured in desktop Chrome; results vary by device and browser.)

How to write page ranges

Pages are numbered from 1. Separate ranges with commas or spaces. Each range takes one of these forms:

You type	Meaning	In a 10-page document
5	A single page	Page 5
1-3	From a start page to an end page	Pages 1, 2 and 3
8-	From a start page to the last page	Pages 8, 9 and 10
1-3, 5, 8-10	Several ranges joined with commas	Pages 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 9 and 10

A few more rules make typing easier:

• You don’t need to know the last page number. Add a hyphen after the start page, like 8-, and the range runs to the end of the document.
• Full-width input works too, which helps if you type with a Korean or Japanese keyboard. Full-width digits are read as regular digits, and the characters －, 〜, ～ and ~ are read as a regular hyphen, so １〜３ means the same as 1-3. Full-width commas, the Japanese comma 、 and full-width spaces also work as separators.
• Extract into one file follows the order you type. Entering 5, 1-3 gives pages 5, 1, 2 and 3 in that order. A page entered twice is included only once. With One file per range, the pages inside each range stay in their original order.

If the field is empty or something is wrong, you can’t press [Start]. When something is wrong, the reason appears below the field:

If you type	You’ll see
A page that isn’t in the document (12 in a 10-page file)	“This document ends at page 10”
A range written backwards (3-1)	“The start page is after the end page”
Anything other than page numbers, hyphens and commas	“Use only page numbers, hyphens (-), and commas”

A backwards range isn’t flipped to 1-3 for you, so fix it and try again.

How to do it with ZEKILO Studio

Split PDF copies pages into a new PDF inside this browser. Your file never leaves your device.

1. Drag and drop one PDF or pick it with [Choose files]. Page previews appear, so you can check the page numbers you need.
2. Under Split method, choose One file per range, Extract into one file or Split every page. Type your ranges, such as 1-3, 5, 8-, in Page ranges, then press [Start].
3. Save with [Download]. If there are several results, use [Download all (ZIP)] to get them in one go.

You can add one PDF at a time. We recommend up to 200 MB on desktop and 50 MB on mobile. Files over 500 MB aren’t processed. A password-protected PDF shows “Password-protected PDFs can’t be processed”. Remove the password, then add the file again.

Result file names and what carries over

Result files keep the original name and add the page range or the task name. Here’s what you get when you split contract.pdf:

Split method	Result file names
One file per range	contract-p1-3.pdf, contract-p5.pdf and so on, packed into contract-split.zip when there are several
Extract into one file	contract-extracted.pdf
Split every page	contract-p1.pdf, contract-p2.pdf and so on, one per page, packed into contract-split.zip

If you leave the end of a range open, like 8-, in One file per range, the file name gets the actual last page number. In a 10-page document, that’s contract-p8-10.pdf.

Pages aren’t turned into images. The text and images inside the PDF are copied as they are, so quality doesn’t change. Here’s what carries over to the new file:

• Kept: the content of the selected pages, page rotation and annotations
• Not carried over: bookmarks and form fields
• Left empty: document properties such as title and author

If a document relies on bookmarks or form fields, keep the original too. To combine the extracted pages with another PDF, extract them first, then use Merge PDF. Merge PDF always includes every page of each file. For that step, see what to check before merging PDFs.

Doing it with apps you already have

If you only need one range, apps already on your computer can do it.

• Chrome’s print feature: open the PDF in Chrome, choose File → Print, set the destination to Save as PDF, choose the pages to print, and save. This makes a new PDF from the printed output instead of copying the original pages, so open the result and check it.
• Preview on Mac: choose View → Thumbnails to show the sidebar, then drag the thumbnail of a page you need to the desktop. Preview creates a new PDF from it.

When you want several ranges as separate files, or need pages in a different order, typing page ranges takes less work.

Summary

• First decide whether you want one file or several, then pick the Split method.
• Write ranges as 5, 1-3 or 8-, joined with commas. Full-width input works too.
• Results are named after the original, like contract-p1-3.pdf or contract-extracted.pdf, and several results come as contract-split.zip.
• Page rotation and annotations are kept, but bookmarks and form fields aren’t, so keep the original as well.