Range syntax is the fastest way to cut a PDF when you know your page numbers. It looks cryptic for about thirty seconds, then becomes the tool you reach for first. Here's the full grammar and a set of real-world recipes.
The grammar
A range expression is a comma-separated list. Each item is either a single page or a start-end span, inclusive on both ends:
1-3, 5, 8-10
In the split.tools PDF splitter, each item becomes its own output file — the expression above produces three PDFs: pages 1–3, page 5, and pages 8–10. Spaces are optional; 1-3,5,8-10 is identical.
Rules worth knowing:
- Pages are numbered from 1, in file order — not by any printed folio on the page.
- Ranges may not run backwards (
10-8is invalid). - A range reaching past the last page is clamped to the document's end, so
40-999on a 52-page file simply means "40 to 52". - The same page may appear in multiple items:
1-10, 5is legal, and page 5 lands in both outputs.
Recipes
Contract → signature packet. The counterparty needs the execution page and both exhibits: 41, 44-47, 52. Wait — that's three files. If you want them as one PDF, use the thumbnail picker instead, which merges your selection into a single document. Rule of thumb: ranges to separate, picking to combine.
Scanned book → chapters. Chapters start at pages 1, 19, 44, 71: 1-18, 19-43, 44-70, 71-96 gives you four chapter files in one pass.
Invoice batch → per-client files. A generated report with one invoice every 2 pages: skip range typing entirely and use Every N pages mode with N = 2. Ranges shine when the pieces are uneven; fixed-interval mode wins when they're regular.
Front matter removal. Everything except the cover and legal boilerplate (pages 1–4): 5-200. One range, one clean file.
Double-sided scan gone wrong. A duplex scan with blank backs — the content is every odd page. Range syntax can't express "odds" compactly, so for this one, click the odd thumbnails in picker mode; the thumbnails make blanks obvious anyway.
Checking your work
Two habits prevent almost every mis-split. First, glance at the thumbnails before typing ranges — files that begin with a cover sheet shift every number by one. Second, after splitting, check the output's page count against your arithmetic (1-18 should be 18 pages).
Ranges, picking, and fixed intervals are all one drop away in the PDF splitter — and because the document is parsed in your own browser, the numbers you type are the only thing that ever leaves your keyboard.