How to split PDF pages in half (scanned book spreads)
Updated
Contents
To split the pages of a PDF in half, open Split PDF Pages in Half, add the PDF, keep Direction on Left and right and press Split pages. Each page becomes two pages, its left half and then its right half, so a book scanned two facing pages at a time reads one page at a time.
It runs in your browser, so the PDF stays on your device, and it takes one file up to 100 MB. Nothing on the page is redrawn: each new page is a copy of the original showing only one half, so text stays selectable and scans keep their quality.
Step by step
- 1Open the Split PDF Pages in Half tool and drop your PDF on the box that says “Drop your PDF here, or”, or click browse to pick it. Its name and page count appear.
- 2Under Direction, keep Left and right for a cut down the middle of each page, or choose Top and bottom for pages laid out one above the other.
- 3For Left and right, set Page order: Left page first for most books, or Right page first for a book read right to left.
- 4Under Pages, keep All pages, or choose Selected pages and type the pages to split, such as 2-9. Tick Keep the first page whole or Keep the last page whole if a cover was scanned on its own.
- 5Press Split pages. When “Pages split in half” appears, check how many pages were split and how many the new file has, then press Download split PDF. book.pdf is saved as book-halved.pdf.
Reading order and covers
With Left page first, the left half of each page comes first, which is the reading order of a book in English and most other languages. A book in Arabic, Hebrew, Persian or Japanese is read from the right-hand page, so choose Right page first and each spread comes out in the order it is read. Top and bottom always gives the top half first.
Covers are often scanned as single pages while everything between them is a spread. Keep the first page whole and Keep the last page whole leave those pages as they are, in their place, and only the spreads are split. To split only part of a document, choose Selected pages and list the pages, such as 3-40 or 2, 4, 6; every page you leave out stays whole, between the split ones.
When the gutter is not in the middle
The cut is always at the exact middle of the page as your viewer shows it, after any rotation setting and inside any crop the file already has. A book scanned slightly off centre has its gutter, the gap between the two pages, a little to one side, and a middle cut then takes a sliver of one page onto the other.
Crop the margins first with Crop PDF, trimming more on one side so the gutter sits in the middle of what is left, then split the cropped file. A page whose halves would be narrower or shorter than the tool's minimum is refused with its page number rather than split into slivers.
Common questions
Will the split PDF be twice as large?
No. Both halves of a page point at the same stored page, so it is kept once, and each extra page adds only a small entry. The file is also written out again as a whole, which can even make it slightly smaller.
Can I split a password-protected PDF?
No. A PDF that needs a password to open is refused, and so is one that opens without a password but whose author restricted changes. Remove the protection first, with the password, and then split the unprotected copy.
Does it work on pages that are rotated?
Yes. The cut follows the page as you see it, so on a spread stored upright and turned sideways for display, Left page first still gives you the half you see on the left.
Can I split only some pages?
Yes. Choose Selected pages and type them, such as 2-9 or 3, 5, 7. The pages you leave out stay whole and keep their place.
Does my PDF leave my device?
No. The pages are split in your browser tab and the new file is saved on your device; the PDF is not sent to pdf.xyz.