How to Resize a PDF with Desktop Tools
This section will introduce two professional PDF programs and a Windows 10 built-in cropping tool, and provide detailed instructions on how to crop PDFs.
How to Resize a PDF on Windows
SwifDoo PDF
SwifDoo PDF is an eligible desktop PDF cropper on Windows. It allows users to resize certain margins for trimming. Furthermore, this PDF editor integrates a useful toolset that enables users to edit, whiteout, add images or links, crop PDF pages, or change page setup in the “Edit” tab. The following steps explain how to crop a PDF file easily:
Step 1: Download and install SwifDoo PDF on your PC, then open the software;
Step 2: Import a PDF to the SwifDoo PDF’s workstation by clicking on the Open button;
Step 3: Select Edit and then choose Crop to start resizing the PDF;
Step 4: Press the Auto Selection and SwifDoo PDF automatically crop the PDF; click Adjustments to set the margins to your preferences.
Step 5: When finished, choose Apply Changes to trim the PDF and save all the changes made on the current PDF.
That's how to crop a PDF with SwifDoo PDF, and the whole process is easy. Apart from this, SwifDoo PDF provides more options to resize a PDF. On the "Adjustments" page, users can change measurement units and set margins if they want. If you are required to crop all pages within the PDF, simply click on “Page Range” or specify which pages to be trimmed.
If you want to resize an image within a PDF document, click on the image file in “View” mode. You can rotate, change opacity, delete, or save the image locally. However, you cannot rely on SwifDoo PDF to crop a PDF image. After all, it is a PDF cropper instead of an image editor.
Foxit PDF
Foxit PDF is another reputable PDF program within the industry. As a comprehensive PDF tool, Foxit PDF is an expert in resizing PDF pages. Compared to SwifDoo PDF, the steps for resizing a page with Foxit PDF may be slightly distinguished but the cropping result has no obvious difference. Let’s see how to crop a PDF file in Foxit:
Step 1: Download and install Foxit PDF on your computer. The installation process may be a bit longer since the installation package is 560 MB;
Step 2: Open a PDF with Foxit PDF;
Step 3: Click Organize and select Crop Pages;
Step 4: Draw an area that is needed to be resized and double-click the area to trigger the Set Page Dimensions window;
Within the window, users can control margins, change page size, and specify page range. For those who need to edit or resize a PDF image, just follow these steps:
Step 1: Choose Edit Object in the Edit tab, and then select Image;
Step 2: Click on an image and right-click your mouse to select Add Clip Path;
Step 3: Choose the shape to crop the image: round rectangle, rectangle, eclipse, curve, polygon, and drawing.
Snipping Tool
The Snipping Tool, rather than a professional PDF cropper, is actually a Windows-based screenshot utility, which is capable of capturing an open window, rectangular area, a free-form area, or the whole screen. As a natural built-in app, Snipping Tool is 100% safe and free to use. Check out how to crop a PDF for free with Snipping Tool on Windows 10:
Step 1: Open a PDF and turn to the page that is needed to be cropped;
Step 2: Press the Windows key on your keyboard, then type Snipping Tool on the search bar, and hit the result to run the program;
Step 3: Select a preferred Mode from Free-form Snip, Rectangular Snip, Window Snip, or Full-screen Snip (among all modes, rectangular may be the most applicable one for most cases);
Step 4: Select the New button to screenshot the current PDF page, then draw an area to select the rectangular shape you have cropped from the PDF;
Step 5: When a new window containing the screenshot section pops up, click File to select Save in order to output the file in PNG, GIF, JPEG, and MHT formats.
After the page is cropped or captured, the image will appear within the tool’s workplace. Users can directly copy, write, edit, and share it as a separate file.
Though free to use, this tool cannot set exact margins to crop or trim. It is developed by Microsoft to capture screenshots. That’s why we need the above two professional PDF tools to resize a PDF as well.
How to Resize a PDF on Mac
The easiest method for cropping a PDF on Mac is to utilize a free program - Preview. Without download or registration, this native PDF cropper can resize PDF documents and trim the margins in an ideal manner.
Preview
For Mac users, cropping a PDF on their Mac devices seems to be a snap thanks to the help of the built-in tool, Preview. This natural Mac-based PDF viewer is both a PDF editor and cropper. In addition, Preview is a reliable image editor on Mac. Without further description, let’s have a look at how to resize a PDF on Mac:
Step 1: Open a PDF in Preview and select the Show Markup Toolbar button. Alternatively, you can press the Rectangular Selection button if ever the Markup toolbar doesn’t pop up;
Step 2: Draw an area with your mouse or touch bar to keep the selected part;
Step 3: Save the changes by clicking on the Crop button in the Markup toolbar.
How to Resize a PDF Online
Online PDF tools’ biggest strength is that they don’t require registration or download and provide free tasks per day. Users just need to open the website, upload the PDF, and crop the PDF pages. However, the free service has certain limitations, for example, file size or total file pages. Follow to figure out how to resize a PDF online.
Chrome
Google Chrome is a multi-platform-supported web browser favored by many users. It can help change page views, and rotate and print a PDF. Meanwhile, Chrome is a good free PDF cropper to resize a PDF as well.
Step 1: Open a PDF document with your Google Chrome Browser;
Step 2: Click the Print button at the top right corner;
Step 3: Scroll your mouse down to select relevant options in More settings. Chrome enables users to change page size, quality, scale, and pages per sheet.
Step 4: When finished, choose Print to export the cropped PDF.
When you don’t need to either set exact margins for a PDF or crop a PDF image, Google Chrome may be a good way to resize and print PDFs. Otherwise, choose another online PDF tool.
EasePDF
As the name suggests, EasePDF is bound to make your PDF work easier. This online program has incorporated more than 30 features to be an all-in-one online PDF tool. Concerning cropping a PDF online, EasePDF, similar to other online platforms, simplifies the whole process, and here’s how to readjust the page size of a PDF:
Step 1: Visit the official website and click Crop PDF in All PDF Tools;
Step 2: Upload your PDF file to the workplace via Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, or URL;
Step 3: Wait for automatic cropping. When finished, click Download to export your resized PDF.
EasePDF allows users to save this newly created PDF into cloud storage platforms or share it as a URL, email attachment, and QR code. Like Google Chrome, EasePDF still fails to change the page margins if needed.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, it is not a complicated task to crop a PDF both online and offline. Desktop PDF tools are comprehensive PDF croppers in comparison to several online tools. Offline tools are usually equipped with many more functionalities that allow users to decide where and how to crop. If you need a desktop PDF cropper, SwifDoo PDF may be a good choice as it is both lightweight and feature-rich.
SwifDoo PDF
