mutool trim#

This command allows you to make a modified version of a PDF with content that falls inside or outside of defined boxes removed.

See mutool pages to get information on the box elements in a PDF.

mutool trim [options] input.pdf

[options]

Options are as follows:

-b box
Which box to trim to (mediabox (default), cropbox, bleedbox, trimbox, artbox).

-m margins
Add margins to box (positive for inwards, negative for outwards).

<All> or <V>,<H> or <T>,<R>,<B>,<L>

-e
Exclude contents of box, rather than include them.

-f
Fallback to mediabox if specified box not available.

-o filename
Output file.

Note

Command line parameters within square brackets [] are optional.

Examples:

Trim a document by trimming the MediaBox elements with a margin of 200 points inwards:
mutool trim -b mediabox -m 200 -o out.pdf in.pdf
Trim a document by trimming the MediaBox elements with a margin of 20 points from the top & bottom (vertical) and 30 points from the left & right (horizontal):
mutool trim -b mediabox -m 20,30 -o out.pdf in.pdf
Trim a document by trimming the MediaBox elements to a box offset 10 points from the top & right, 50 points from the bottom and 20 points in from the left:
mutool trim -b mediabox -m 10,10,50,20 -o out.pdf in.pdf
Exclude the contents of the ArtBox element:
mutool trim -b artbox -e -o out.pdf in.pdf

MediaBox

The MediaBox is for complete pages including items that will be physically trimmed from the final product like crop marks, registration marks, etc.

CropBox

The CropBox defines the region that a PDF is expected to display or print.

BleedBox

The BleedBox determines the region to which the page contents expect to be clipped.

TrimBox

The TrimBox defines the intended dimensions of the finished page.

ArtBox

The ArtBox can be used to denote areas where it is considered “safe” to place graphical elements.

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