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Split a PDF Page in Half, Vertically or Horizontally

Separate scanned book spreads, two-up sheets, and stacked layouts into individual pages. Choose the cut direction, check the preview, and adjust the line before downloading.

How to split a PDF page in half - 3 steps

  1. 1

    Upload the PDF

    Add one PDF up to 500 MB. This is intended for scanned spreads, two-up sheets, and other pages that contain two pieces of content on one sheet.

  2. 2

    Choose and place the cut

    Choose a vertical cut for side-by-side content or a horizontal cut for stacked content. Check the preview and move the split line if the centre of the visible page is not the right place.

  3. 3

    Select pages and download

    Split the whole file or selected pages, then download the new PDF. The selected page areas become separate pages in reading order.

What this tool does - and how it differs from Split PDF

This page cuts through an individual PDF page. It is useful when a scanned book spread, magazine, worksheet, ticket sheet, or other two-up layout has two pieces of content on one page and you want them as separate pages.

The regular Split PDF tool works at page boundaries. Use that tool when you want pages 1-10 in one file and pages 11-20 in another. Use this page when one source page needs to become two or more output pages.

The name says 'in half' because the usual job is one cut through the middle, but the editor can add more than one split line. That lets you divide a page into three or more parts when the layout calls for it.

You may also see this called cutting a PDF, a PDF cutter or a PDF page cutter. Those names usually mean cutting the visible area of one page, not separating a document into page ranges. To separate pages 1 to 10 from pages 11 to 20, use Split PDF instead.

Split PDF pages in half on a Mac, Windows PC, Linux or phone

The tool works on this page, so it behaves the same on Windows, macOS, Linux distributions such as Ubuntu, iPhone and Android, with no software to install. That matters because the usual desktop apps make this job awkward: Preview on a Mac and Adobe Acrobat both lack a single command that cuts one page into two, so the common workaround is to duplicate every page and crop each copy by hand.

Command-line users have options too. MuPDF's mutool poster cuts pages without turning them into images, while ImageMagick converts each page to a picture first, which makes the text unselectable and the file larger. This tool works like the first: the original page content is kept, and only the visible area of each new page changes.

Upload a PDF - up to 500 MB

The page accepts one PDF at a time, with a maximum file size of 500 MB. JPGs, PNGs, Word documents, and other file types are not accepted here; convert them to PDF first if necessary.

The file is opened and processed online. A large scan with many high-resolution pages can still use considerable memory, so a smaller page range may work better if the browser becomes slow.

Vertical or horizontal - choose the direction that matches the layout

Choose Vertical when the two pages or panels sit side by side. This is the usual choice for a book scanned while open, a magazine spread, or a wide page with a left and right section.

Choose Horizontal when the content is stacked from top to bottom. This suits a landscape sheet with two smaller pages, two-up tickets, certificates, or a wide worksheet arranged in rows.

The tool does not detect a book gutter automatically. The choice is based on the visible page area and the direction you select. If the page is uneven, or the gap is not exactly in the middle, use the preview to check the result and move the line yourself.

Preview the cut and adjust the split line

After the file opens, the preview shows where the cut will fall. Drag the line until it sits at the boundary you want. This is helpful for scans with a wide gutter, uneven margins, or content that was not centred when the page was captured.

The cut is made from the visible page area. It is not an automatic crop, deskew, or book-gutter correction. If text, a table, or an image crosses the line, part of that content will be placed on each output page, so review the preview before downloading.

Choose pages, and cut into more than two parts

You can apply the cut to every page or enter a selected page range. This is useful when only a few scanned spreads need separating and the rest of the PDF should remain unchanged.

Parts per Page sets how many parts each page is cut into, from two to five. The lines start evenly spaced and each one can be dragged on its own. Each part is written as its own PDF page in the order it appears on the source page: left to right for a vertical cut, top to bottom for a horizontal one.

To cut a page both ways, into quarters or a grid, run the tool twice: first Horizontal for the rows, then Vertical on the result for the columns. Doing the rows first makes the pages come out row by row, the way people read.

Quality, page size, metadata, and bookmarks

Pages are not turned into images, so text stays selectable and the content keeps its original resolution; it is not enlarged or intentionally re-compressed. A vertical cut makes pages narrower while keeping the source height. A horizontal cut makes pages shorter while keeping the source width. The output page dimensions follow the part that was cut.

This creates a new PDF. The original bookmark tree is not carried over, and document properties such as title, author, subject, and keywords may be missing. If those details matter, check the downloaded file and add them again with a PDF metadata editor.

What this tool does not fix

It does not straighten a crooked scan, remove dark borders or shadows, recognise text, or decide where a book gutter is. It also cannot know that one page needs a different cut unless you adjust the line and select the pages accordingly.

For the next step, use Crop PDF to tidy scan edges, PDF OCR to read the text from a scan, or Rearrange PDF Pages if the new pages need to be reordered. For splitting a document into separate page ranges, use Split PDF instead.

The part outside each new page is hidden, not deleted, so splitting is not a way to remove private details from a PDF. To remove text or images for good, use Redact PDF.

Scanning a whole book? For covers, off-center scans and page order, read our guide to splitting scanned book pages.

From the blog

  • Why and How to Split PDF Pages in Half

    Cut PDF pages in half vertically or horizontally, into up to five pieces or a grid, online, in Acrobat, on a Mac or on Linux, with answers to common questions.

What happens to your files

PilotPDF does not keep copies of your original files, completed files, passwords, or document contents after processing.

Read our privacy policy for details about analytics and data handling.

Related tools

Crop PDF

Trim uneven margins left by a scan.

Rearrange PDF Pages

Put the new pages back in the right order.

Split PDF

Divide a document at page boundaries.

Pages Per Sheet

Place several pages on one sheet.

Frequently Asked Questions

Choose the PDF, pick a vertical or horizontal cut, check the line in the preview, then download the result. Each page you choose becomes two separate pages in reading order.
Yes. It is free, needs no account and adds no watermark. Choose the PDF above, and each page you pick is cut into two pages in a new PDF.
Choose vertical for content placed side by side, such as an open-book scan. Choose horizontal when the content is stacked from top to bottom, such as two tickets on a wide sheet.
Yes. Choose a vertical cut for a double-page scan of an open book or magazine. Each half becomes its own page, ready to read or print one page per sheet. Check the preview, because the tool does not find the book gutter automatically.
Yes. Split a landscape A3 page vertically and you get two portrait A4 pages. The same works for A4 into two A5 pages, or tabloid into two letter pages. The halves keep their original resolution.
Yes. Choose that page, or any set of pages, instead of the whole document. Pages you do not choose stay in the output unchanged.
Yes. Use the preview and drag the line to the position you need. This is useful when the content or gutter is not centred.
Yes, up to five parts per page in one go: set Parts per Page and drag each line where you want it. For quarters or a grid, run the tool twice, horizontal first and then vertical, so the pages come out row by row.
Yes. This tool cuts through the visible area of a page. The regular Split PDF tool separates a document at page boundaries into ranges or separate files.
If you want the first half of the pages in one file and the second half in another, use Split PDF instead and choose a range such as 1-10 and 11-20. This tool is for cutting each page itself into two.
No. There is nothing to download or install, not even Adobe Acrobat. Open this page, choose the PDF and download the result.
Yes. With the pypdf library you add each page twice and shrink the visible box of each copy to one half: left and right for a vertical cut, top and bottom for a horizontal one. This page does the same job without code.
Open this page on your Mac and choose the PDF; there is nothing to install. Preview on a Mac has no single command that cuts one page into two, so the usual workaround there is to duplicate each page and crop every copy by hand.
Acrobat's Split command divides a document into separate files by number of pages, file size or bookmarks. It does not cut one page into two, so in Acrobat you would duplicate pages and crop each copy. Here you place the cut once and it applies to every page you choose.
Yes. It works in any current browser on Linux, including Ubuntu, with nothing to install. If you prefer the command line, MuPDF's mutool poster -x 2 cuts every page vertically, and -y 2 cuts it horizontally.
For most documents, yes. ImageMagick turns each page into a picture before cutting it, so the text can no longer be selected or searched and the file often gets bigger. This tool keeps the original page content, so the text stays real.
Yes. The page works on iPhone and Android phones as well as on computers. Choose the PDF, set the cut and download the result to your phone.
The cut falls where you place the line, which starts at the centre of the page. Text or a table that crosses the line is divided between the two halves, so check any spread with content across the gutter before you save.
Yes. Pages are not turned into images, so text stays selectable and pictures keep their resolution. The new page dimensions follow the part that was cut.
No guarantee. The result is a new PDF, so the original bookmark tree and properties such as title, author, subject, and keywords may not be carried over.
The maximum file size is 500 MB. Very large scans may still need more browser memory and can take longer to process.
No. It cuts the page only. Use a crop or deskew tool to tidy a scan, and PDF OCR to make it searchable.