The Preview app in macOS lets you view, search, print, and perform other actions on PDF files. But if you just need a new PDF with specific pages, you don’t have to monkey around much at all.
- Time to complete: 2 minutes
- Tools required: Preview app
- Materials required: PDF
View Thumbnails in Preview
Foundry
With the PDF open, choose View > Thumbnails if it’s not already showing in the sidebar.
Select the pages you want
Foundry
In the sidebar, click on the page you want. If you want to select multiple pages, hold the Shift key when you click on the pages.
Go to the Print dialog
Foundry
Choose File > Print.
Instead of choosing Print, you can also at this stage just drag the pages to the Finder onto the Desktop or into a folder at this stage, too, if you don’t want to give the excerpted page or pages a name, preview your selection, or set other choices from the Print dialog.
Selected Page
Foundry
In the Pages area of the Print dialog, click Selected Page or Selected Pages in Sidebar.
Save as PDF
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From the PDF pop-up menu at the bottom middle of the dialog, choose Save as PDF.
Change the PDF name
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Preview automatically fills in the current PDF’s name. To avoid overwriting that file, enter a new descriptive name and click Save.
This Mac 911 article is in response to a question submitted by Macworld reader Teresa.
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Author: Glenn Fleishman, Senior Contributor
Glenn Fleishman’s most recent books include Take Control of iOS and iPadOS Privacy and Security, Take Control of Calendar and Reminders, and Take Control of Securing Your Mac. In his spare time, he writes about printing and type history. He’s a senior contributor to Macworld, where he writes Mac 911.