PDF Tools
Merge, split and compress PDFs, or turn their pages into JPG images. Useful when you need part of a document, a smaller file to email or upload, or a page you can drop into a slide or a post. To go the other way, Image to PDF (under Image Tools) builds a PDF from your pictures.
All 4 PDF Tools
Which PDF tool do you need?
Four tools cover the common jobs, and the fifth row is the reverse direction, which lives under Image Tools.
| Tool | Use it to | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Merge PDF | Join several PDFs into one, in an order you set | Pages are copied across unchanged, so text stays selectable. |
| Split PDF | Pull out single pages or page ranges | Either every page as its own file, or the ranges you type, such as 1-3, 5, 7-10. Pages are copied unchanged. |
| PDF Compressor | Get a PDF under an email or upload size limit | Re-renders every page as an image, so text in the result is no longer selectable. Choose maximum, recommended or light. |
| PDF to JPG | Turn pages into JPG images for a slide, a post or a web page | Each page becomes a picture, so its text can no longer be selected. Download pages one at a time or together. |
| Image to PDF | Build a PDF from JPG or PNG images | Part of Image Tools. Set the page order, size and orientation. |
Which operations keep text selectable?
This is the main thing to weigh before you choose. Merge PDF and Split PDF copy pages into a new file without redrawing them, so the layout is unchanged and text remains selectable and searchable.
PDF Compressor and PDF to JPG both turn pages into images. That is how they work, so the text in their output is part of the picture. If you may need the text later, keep the original file.
Common PDF workflows
- Photos or scans into one document: use Image to PDF, then add other documents with Merge PDF.
- One chapter or signed page out of a long file: Split PDF with a custom range.
- A file that is too big to send: merge and split first, and compress last. Compression flattens pages into images, so doing it at the end means you do not merge or split already-flattened files. If the file barely shrinks, try the maximum setting, and expect the biggest gains on scans and image-heavy exports.
- A page for a presentation or a chat message: PDF to JPG, then pick the page you want. If the images come out larger than you would like, the JPEG Compressor can reduce them.
What these tools do not do
These are page-level tools. They do not edit the text inside a PDF, fill in or sign forms, run OCR on scans, or convert PDFs to Word or Excel. They also cannot open password-protected or encrypted PDFs: remove the password in the program you normally use to read the file, then use the unprotected copy.
Common questions
Are my PDFs uploaded?
No. All four PDF tools, and Image to PDF, read and rebuild the file in your browser with JavaScript PDF libraries, so confidential documents stay on your device. Very large files are limited by the memory your browser tab has available.
Why did my PDF barely shrink, or even grow?
The PDF Compressor works by re-rendering pages as images. A PDF that is mostly text is already small, so there is little to gain and re-encoding it can add bytes. Scans and image-heavy exports shrink the most.
Does merging or splitting reduce quality?
No. Merge PDF and Split PDF copy pages as they are, so nothing is re-rendered or recompressed. Only the PDF Compressor and PDF to JPG change how a page is stored.
Related pages
- Image Tools: Image to PDF builds a PDF from pictures, and the JPEG Compressor shrinks the images first.