How can I delete or rearrange pages in pdf files?

Help
1

Hello!

I am still very new to Obsidian but already love it!

What I’m trying to do

I need to remove blank or unwanted pages from pdf files.

For example I have a bunch of instruction manuals for many devices that I have to maintain and repair. Most of these have sections for different languages duplicating the content for users of different countries.

Now I need to remove all irrelevant languages from the manuals to
decrease file size and clutter while searching.

Things I have tried

So I installed the PDF++ extension but I couldn’t find the option to remove single or multiple pages form the file. I am obviously missing something basic…

But also in the docs for PDF++ there is a hint that removing files doesN#t reduce the file size (just hides the pages?)… I am not sure I understand exactly when this applies. But if it is true for every deleted page than this would defeat my purpose - I have to reduce file size because we have to synchronize the vault with many devices.

What am I missing? DO I really have to use an external editor to manipulate PDF file pages (adding, removing, rearraging)?

If this works with PDF++… - I feel stupid to ask but: How?

Thanks for help!
jh

2

Obsidian can output PDFs and plugins can help you to deal with PDF in Obsidian.

But Obsidian wasn’t made for PDF files, so better you search online for PDF apps.
You can find many PDF apps/tools (MacOs, Linux, windows) both free and for purchase to perform actions like: extract, remove, add blank, add page count, OCR, annotate pages, etc

3

Thank you. I am working on OpenSUSE linux and I use PDF Arranger to Rearrange pages, delete them and so forth.

I started to use Obsidian for note taking in regard to these PDF files. I note and mark quirks with machines, workarounds to some common problems in these pdf manuals and need to access the notes and the files they refer to.

So with syncing the vault Obsidian is a really good solution for me and can easily be expanded to share these notes, hints and manuals with my colleagues.

I do not need all the bells and whistles of a full blown PDF editor (as I mentioned I have and use these!) - I am just looking for a quick way to delete or rearrange some obsolete pages in a PDF file. PDF++ seems to be able to do that - I just don’t get how…

Or maybe there is another even more simple plugin for that?

Thx, jh

4

PDF arranger is great for post processing PDFs.

Otherwise, try to wrap text you don’t wanna see in your PDF between % sign:

%%
example text
%%
5

PDF++ can insert, delete, or extract PDF pages. To delete a page, go to PDF++ settings → Editing PDF files and activate the option Enable PDF editing.
Then, open the thumbnail view in the sidebar and right-click on the page you want to delete, and select “Delete page”.

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image762×812 164 KB

Currently, PDF++ does not support rearranging pages. While PDF++ can do many PDF manipulation, I’d recommend external apps dedicated to PDF editing in general.
One of the situation where you would like to use PDF++ is when you want to keep your links to PDF pages (e.g. [[My PDF file.pdf#page=2]]) synchronized after page manipulation. PDF++ can do automatic update of such links while external apps cannot.

6

Thanks. I’ll need to figure out how to write that %% comment into the pdf… but that sounds also good (though it doesn’t reduce size…

PDF Arranger is great.

7

Thank you so much!

That is exactly what I need.

I didn’t realize that I have to us the page thumbnails to bring up these options… - also: extracting and inserting pages basically rearranges the page order in the PDF file.

It’s just basic editing but suffices for most of what I need.

Would be nice to select more than one page at the time though…

But for bulk deletion there is PDF Arranger as @Jopp pointed out!

Thanks again!

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