Send only pages 3 to 7 of a contract: extract, do not split

Extract, split or delete: which one?

Three tools take pages out of a PDF, and they look alike. The difference is what you get back:

Tool	What you get	Original changed?	Use it when
Extract pages	1 new file with the pages you name, in the order you name them	No	You send a few pages of a bigger file
Split PDF	Several files that together make up the whole document	No	Every part goes somewhere (chapters, 1 invoice per page)
Delete pages	The same document minus the pages you name, bookmarks and form fields kept	No, you download a new copy	You keep most of the file and throw a few pages away

The rule in 1 line: take some, extract; cut it all up, split; lose some, delete. For “send pages 3 to 7”, extract gives you the small file in 1 step and nothing else to tidy up.

Extract pages, step by step

We use our 12-page test lease, where pages 3 to 7 are the clauses a lawyer asked to see.

1. Drop the PDF on Extract pages above. The hint under Pages tells you how many pages the file has.
2. In Pages, type 3-7.
3. Press Extract.
4. Download the result: lease-pages-3-7.pdf, 5 pages. The result line says “Took 5 pages into a new file”.

Pages are copied as they are: the text stays text, the scan stays at its resolution, nothing is re-compressed. On our 500-page test file, a reversing list of all 500 pages took under half a second, so a 5-page pick is instant.

Pages that are not next to each other

Type the pages with commas: 3-7, 12, 15 gives 1 file of 7 pages, named lease-pages-3-7_12_15.pdf. A few rules:

• The order you type is the order you get. 12, 3-7 puts page 12 first. The name follows that order too (lease-pages-12_3_4_5_6_7.pdf), so a reordered copy is never mistaken for the original’s order.
• Each page appears once. 3-7, 5 takes page 5 only once.
• 9- means to the end. On the 12-page lease, 9- is pages 9 to 12.
• Many files, the same pages. Drop 10 contracts and type 1-2: you get the first 2 pages of each, 10 files, in 1 zip.

Check before you send

Three things are worth 30 seconds before the file goes out:

1. The file name. It starts with the original’s name. If lease-jane-cooper-final.pdf says more than the recipient should know, rename the extract.
2. What is stored inside. The extract keeps the original’s title, author, subject and keywords; its dates and producing program are new. If the title or author says too much, clear them with Remove metadata. To check what any PDF carries before sending it, drop it on Inspect; what PDF metadata reveals explains each field.
3. The size. 5 text pages are a few kilobytes. 5 scanned pages at 300 dpi are about 9 MB in our tests; Gmail and Outlook.com stop at 25 MB per message, the Outlook app at 10 MB for Exchange accounts by default. If it is close, run the extract through Compress PDF.

If the original is digitally signed, the extract is a new copy and the signature no longer checks out in it. getPDF says so on the result, and when the signature matters, the recipient needs the full original.

What extracting does not do

Extracting does not redact. Whatever is on pages 3 to 7 goes out exactly as it is: an account number in clause 5, a name under a black box someone drew in a viewer, text hidden by a crop. A box drawn over text in most viewers is a separate layer, and the text under it still selects and copies. If something on those pages must not be read, redact it properly first, then extract.

It keeps the structure that belongs to the pages you take, and drops the rest: bookmarks to those pages stay (“Kept 2 bookmarks to the pages taken”), form fields on them stay fillable, and a link between 2 pages you took keeps working, while a link to a page you left out is dropped. The pages you leave out do not ride along hidden in the file. When you want the whole document minus a few pages, delete the pages you do not want instead. For everything that protects a PDF on its way out, from passwords to metadata, see the PDF privacy guide.