Forum Discussion

WasmWilliam's avatar
WasmWilliam
Iron Contributor
Jul 15, 2026

How do I extract just certain pages from a PDF?

Hey folks. I'm sitting on a massive PDF file and I only need a few random pages out of it for a report, but I have no clue how to cleanly extract pages from pdf without using some paid subscription ...
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ArthurDavis's avatar
ArthurDavis
Iron Contributor
Jul 15, 2026

PDFtk is a command-line PDF tool that provides a scriptable, local method for how to extract pdf pages. The tool runs entirely offline, requires no file uploads, supports automated batch processing via terminal commands, and offers a lightweight, script-based solution for quickly splitting target PDF chapters without relying on graphical software.

How to Extract PDF Pages

1. Download and install the software toolkit from the official website.

2. Open the Command Prompt and navigate to the folder containing the source PDF file.

3. Run the command:

pdftk input.pdf dump_data output bookmarks.txt

4. Export the bookmarks and view the page numbers corresponding to each chapter.

5. Copy the desired page range from the generated bookmarks text file.

6. Execute the extraction command:

pdftk input.pdf cat 1-15 16-30 31-45 output chapters.pdf.

7. Check the same directory to retrieve the new split PDF file containing your selected page range.

It runs quickly, supports script automation, and is suitable for technical users who need to extract PDF pages—especially those who frequently need to split PDF files.

However, it lacks a graphical user interface, which makes it difficult for users unfamiliar with terminal commands to operate.