pdfpix

Rotate and crop a PDF

or drop one here
Choose a PDF file first.

Turn pages the right way up and cut the margins away. Rotation is written as a page property in ninety degree steps, and the crop sets a box a reader honours, so neither one rewrites the page content. The text stays exactly where it was. Everything happens in this browser tab.

How to rotate and crop a PDF

  1. Choose the PDF

    Press Choose a PDF, or drop the file on the page. The PDF is read and its page preview is drawn in this tab.

  2. Choose one page or all pages

    Move through the pages, then apply each rotation or crop change to the page in view or to the whole document. Undo and Redo step through every change.

  3. Rotate or trim the edges

    Turn pages left or right. Crop margins are percentages of the visible page, so the same setting works across different page sizes.

  4. Read the check, then download

    The output is opened again. Page count, selectable text, rotations and crop boxes must match the requested changes before the download appears.

Rotation and cropping are page settings, not new pages

A PDF page carries a rotation value and a crop box. The rotation is a number of degrees that tells a reader to turn the page before drawing it. The crop box is a rectangle that tells the reader which part of the page to show. Both sit in the page dictionary beside the content, and neither one changes a drawing instruction.

That is why this tool cannot cost you text. The words stay in the same content stream, in the same order, at the same coordinates. A search still finds them and a screen reader still reads them. The check on the way out counts the characters again to prove it.

Cropping hides content instead of removing it. The margin you trim is still in the file, and a reader that ignores the crop box shows it again. When the point is to destroy something, use redaction, not a crop. Rotating or flipping a page online here is free, and 180 degrees is the flip an upside-down scan needs.

Questions

Does the page leave this browser tab?
No. The preview, page changes, verification and download all run in this browser tab. No part of the PDF is uploaded.
Does rotating or cropping delete page content?
No. Cropping changes the PDF crop box, which tells viewers what part of the page to show. The hidden content remains in the file.
Does rotation turn the page into a picture?
No. Rotation changes the PDF page rotation value. Page content and selectable text are not redrawn.
Can I apply the same change to every page?
Yes. Choose All pages before rotating or changing a crop margin. Undo reverses the whole action in one step.
What does the rotate and crop check cover?
It opens the result again and checks every page, at least 98% text retention, and the exact rotation and crop box written for each page. A failed result is not offered for download.
Will the rotation hold in every PDF reader?
Yes for readers that follow the PDF specification, because the rotation is stored on the page itself and not in a viewer setting. Some scanners write pages that are already turned in the content stream, and those look unchanged until you rotate them here.
Which way do Rotate left and Rotate right turn the page?
Rotate right turns the page 90 degrees clockwise. Rotate left turns it 90 degrees counterclockwise. Press either button twice for 180 degrees. Each turn adds to the rotation the page already has, so a page stored at 90 degrees and turned right once ends at 180.
Do crop margins follow a rotated page?
Yes. Margins apply to the page as the preview shows it after rotation. A top margin on a page turned 90 degrees trims the edge that now sits at the top. The tool works out which stored edge that is before it writes the crop box.

Related tools

Each runs in a browser tab like this one, reads its own output back before the download, and needs no account. The footer links every tool.

Where to go next