Tech Tip: How to Share Part of a PDF

For many of us in 1:1 classrooms, we share a lot of resources and materials with students digitally. One of the most common questions I’ve received is how to only share certain pages when you share a PDF with students. A lot of PDFs include information for the teacher that we don’t want students to see, such as directions, pacing guides, answer keys, and terms of use.

The good news is that it’s super easy and fast to share some of the pages instead of the entire document. This is called extracting pages. And you can do it for free without buying any extra programs or apps. Let’s get started!

Extracting Pages on a Mac

To grab just one page or multiple consecutive pages, follow these steps:

1. Open the PDF in Preview.
2. Click on File > Print.
3. Select the page(s) you want to include.
4. Change the file type to “Save as PDF.”
5. Click Save.

To select multiple non-consecutive pages:

1. Open the PDF in Preview.
2. Click on View > Thumbnails.
3. Select the pages you want to include by holding down Command and clicking on each thumbnail.
4. Change the file type to “Save as PDF.”
5. Click Save.

Extracting Pages in Your Browser

You can also create a new PDF of selected pages in an internet browser! With this method, you can select any of the pages in the PDF.

1. Right-click on the PDF. Select Open With and then select a browser such as Chrome or Safari.
2. Click on File > Print, or click on the printer icon.
3. In the Pages drop-down menu, select Custom.
4. Type the page numbers you want to include.
5. Change the printer destination to “Save as PDF.”

Extracting Pages in Windows

1. Right-click on the PDF. Select Open With and then select Microsoft Reader.
2. Type Ctrl + P to open the printer menu.
3. Select “Microsoft XPS Document Writer” (or “PDF,” if you have that option) in the printer menu.
4. Select the page(s) you want to include.
5. Press Print.

With any of these methods, it’s super easy to choose what pages you want when you share a PDF through email, Google Classroom, or an LMS.