PyCropPDF

PyCropPDF is a desktop PDF editor for cropping pages, adding visual masks, and redacting selected content.

Install

PyCropPDF requires Python 3.10 or later.

pip install pycroppdf

For development:

git clone https://github.com/lukaszliniewicz/PyCropPDF.git
cd PyCropPDF
pip install -e ".[dev]"

Run

pycroppdf
pycroppdf --input /path/to/document.pdf

Optional arguments:

• --save-to DIRECTORY saves to that directory instead of opening a Save dialog.
• --save-as NAME.pdf sets the output name when used with --save-to; otherwise the default is <input>_modified.pdf.
• --manifest-out PATH sets the JSON provenance-manifest path. By default it is saved next to the PDF as <output>.pycroppdf.json.

Edit a PDF

1. Open a PDF with File > Open PDF... or drag it into the window.
2. Choose an overlay view for all pages, separate odd/even pages, or a single page from the thumbnail list.
3. Select thumbnails to limit an operation to specific pages. Use Ctrl/Cmd-click to toggle pages and Shift-click to select a range.
4. Draw visual masks or redactions first. To make further masks or redactions after cropping, click Reset Crop.
5. Select Crop Box, draw a rectangle, then click Apply Crop. Odd/even crop rectangles share one size but keep independent positions.
6. Use Undo or Ctrl+Z to revert an edit, then click Save PDF.

Tools

Use Redact when the content itself must be removed. Crop boxes and visual masks only change presentation.

Provenance manifest

Each save writes a JSON sidecar manifest unless a different path is supplied with --manifest-out. It records source and output SHA-256 hashes, page mapping and deletions, plus the crop, mask, and redaction rectangles applied.

Development

pytest
ruff check .

Build a standalone executable with PyInstaller:

pyinstaller --onefile --noconsole --name PyCropPDF run.py

License

MIT