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I would like to take a single 30-page PDF and split it so that it is 30 individual 1-page files (one file from each page of the original PDF).

I know that I have successfully done this in the past using Preview. For the life of me, I can not remember how it is done. I believe it was a matter of selecting the desired thumbnails and dragging them to the Finder (perhaps whilst holding down a key?) With this I keep getting a single PDF consisting of the selected pages.

Using this method, I can drag one page at a time, but this is very tedious. I do remember doing splitting a large file into pages in one stroke.

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  • Alternative to drag-and-drop is doing it from the keyboard - select page(s) from thumbnails view, cmd+c to copy and cmd+n to paste into new file.
    – Aivar Paalberg
    Commented Jun 3 at 17:22
  • There's no way of doing this automatically in Preview.
    – benwiggy
    Commented Jun 11 at 14:33

2 Answers 2

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Both Automator and Shortcuts have Split PDF actions that can be put into a workflow, which can be used as a Quick Action in the Finder.

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  • While it annoys me that I can not find the solution that I previously used; this Workflow is an excellent option. I'm going to select this as correct, and chalk up my murky memories of manual PDF manipulation as early onset Macmentia.
    – Parapluie
    Commented Jun 11 at 12:32
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You might also look at pdftk, which can split, and gives you control over the names of the resulting files.

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