Crop PDFs the Easy Way

PDF, as a file type, lies in between a document and a photograph. We can edit it like a document, but at its core, it is a photograph of a document. However, most graphic editors do not allow us to make edits to a PDF.
One of the biggest edits we need is the ability to crop a PDF document to make it easier to read on our tablets and smartphones. A small piece of software called Briss makes PDFs easy to crop.

















After downloading the software from SourceForge.net, extract it. The very first file in the extracted folder should be an application file simply named Briss. Double-click it.

A small window will open in the top-left corner of your screen. Click File then Load File and choose a PDF to crop.

A window will open asking if you want to exclude any pages in PDF from merging. We clicked Cancel.

The PDF loads and the Briss window should enlarge to the size of the PDF. If not, drag the window to the size needed. At first glance, your PDF looks like a jumbled mess—but this is ok. The odd pages are layered, one on top of the other, on the left, whereas the even pages are layered on the right.

Click your mouse and drag it across the areas you need to crop. All even or odd pages are cropped to the same dimensions. The first section you highlight is labeled with a one—it will appear first in the new PDF. The following section is labeled 2 and so forth.

When you have finished making your selections, click Actions and then Crop PDF.

A new PDF is generated with your cropped pieces in place of the original pages. The PDF may appear longer than the original, but this is because the cropped pieces are placed one after the other rather than side-by-side. This is perfect for cell phone viewing.

Overall, Briss works great for what it is designed to do. The initial PDF load with the text of all even and odd pages merged together feels quirky, but the cropping tool is great. It is a good way to make PDFs more small-screen-device friendly.