PDFCutter

The program allows selecting areas of a PDF, and inserting these areas into a new PDF file. With this you can selectively keep parts of a PDF file, change the order of the content, and remove unnecessary whitespace.

The aim of the program is to allow easy rebuilding of PDF files to save paper when they are printed out. Only basic areas can be cut out and pasted into the new file. The new file may sometimes be a lot less efficient, but that doesn't matter much, as the final result is usually printed. It is a very specialized application designed for the one task of "compressing" PDF files to save paper.

(Sometimes it is refered to by the name "BritzelCut".)

Getting it

You can get it using git, or browser the source. The code is rather ugly in places, and there is no translation support (many strings are simply german).

git clone https://git.sipsolutions.net/pdfcutter.git

Usage

To start using it, create a new "bcut" document using a PDF as a source. On the left side the PDF will appear, while on the right side the preview for the final document can be seen. The page size of the final document is simply the same size as the first page of the input PDF file.

Mouse/keyboard usage is essential, so here a list of things you can do.

On the left (PDF viewer) side:

  • Zoom using Ctrl+Mouse Wheel
  • Create a new box by clicking and dragging the edge
  • Change the size of a box by dragging the edges
  • Delete a box using Ctrl+Click

On the right side (preview):

  • Zoom using Ctrl+Mouse Wheel
  • Select a box using click, or select multiple using shift click.
  • Drag one or more boxes using the mouse. The following modifiers exist:
    • Ctrl: Move in 2.5mm steps
    • Shift: Only move horizontally or vertically (note: press only after starting the drag, to prevent multiselect from occuring)
  • Move boxes using arrow keys:
    • Normally moves in 1mm steps
    • Shift: Move in 0.1mm steps
  • Create a new page by moving a box down onto it (using the mouse)
  • Scale a box by dragging the lower right corner
  • "=" resets the scale back to normal
  • "Del" deletes a box again
  • "+"/"-" moves the box in the z-Order (in front/underneath other boxes)