Three patterns of extraction
- Single page: 'page 7' — useful for pulling one form out of a packet
- Range: 'pages 5–10' — useful for review-only sections of a contract
- Non-contiguous: '1, 3, 5, 12–15' — useful for custom selections
Extract vs. split vs. remove
All three live in the same toolbox but mean different things. Extract: keep specific pages, output one new PDF. Split: divide into multiple files (one per page or range). Remove: keep everything except the pages you specify. Pick by what your output should look like.
Order matters
Pages come out in the order you specified. Listing 5, 1, 7 produces a PDF with page 5 first, then 1, then 7. This is useful for re-sequencing without a separate merge step.
What survives extraction
- Page content (text, images, fonts): preserved bit-for-bit
- Internal links between extracted pages: preserved
- Internal links to non-extracted pages: stripped (rather than left dangling)
- Form fields on extracted pages: functional in the new file
- Bookmarks: pruned to only point at extracted pages