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CroPDF-MacOS

This repository is the native macOS version of CroPDF, rebuilt as a SwiftUI/AppKit desktop app while keeping the same core goal: fast, lossless PDF figure cropping.

Platform Swift 6.2+ version license

CroPDF

Lightweight PDF cropper that keeps vector quality. Extract figures from textbooks for Typst, LaTeX, or any other document.

Why I Made This

I write my math notes in Typst and often want to include figures from textbooks (which I have as PDFs). To preserve the best possible quality (sharp text, scalable diagrams, no compression artifacts) I need to crop the original PDF and keep it in PDF format.

Yes, some PDF viewers can do this. But I wanted something:

  • Lightweight — no bloated software, just a simple tool
  • Fast — open, crop, save, done
  • Lossless — true vector output, not a rasterized screenshot

So I built CroPDF-MacOS: a macOS-native rebuild of CroPDF in Swift, using PDFKit and Quartz, focused on doing one thing well.

Features

  • 📄 Vector-quality output — crops PDFs without rasterization
  • 🖱️ Visual selection — draw a rectangle to define the crop area
  • ⌨️ Pixel-perfect adjustment — fine-tune with arrow keys
  • 📖 Page navigation — browse multi-page PDFs easily
  • 🧭 Outline + thumbnail sidebar — jump through long PDFs faster
  • 🍎 Native macOS app — SwiftUI/AppKit UI with PDFKit rendering
  • 🪶 Minimal footprint — no Python runtime or third-party app framework

Installation

Quick Install (recommended)

Download the latest DMG from GitHub Releases, open it, and move CroPDF.app into your Applications folder.

From Source

git clone https://github.com/ericceg/CroPDF-MacOS.git
cd CroPDF-MacOS
swift build

You can open the package directly in Xcode and run it as a native macOS app.

Build a DMG

make dmg

This creates dist/CroPDF.dmg.

Note: Node.js and npm are required for the DMG step because the build uses create-dmg via npx.

Usage

  1. Launch the app
  2. Navigate to the page with the figure you want
  3. Click and drag to draw a crop rectangle
  4. Fine-tune the selection:
    • Arrow keys — move the rectangle (1pt)
    • Shift + Arrow — resize the rectangle
    • Space + Arrow — move/resize by 25pt
  5. Click Crop and Save → choose output location

The output is a proper PDF — scalable, searchable, perfect for embedding.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut Action
⌘O Open PDF file
⌘S Crop and save
⌘G Go to page
← → Navigate pages (when no selection)
Arrow keys Move selection (1pt)
Shift + Arrow Resize selection
Space + Arrow Move/resize by 25pt
Escape Deselect area

Use Cases

  • 📚 Extract figures from textbooks for your notes
  • 📝 Include diagrams in Typst/LaTeX documents
  • 🎓 Crop theorems or examples for presentations
  • 📊 Pull charts from papers for slides

Requirements

  • macOS 14+
  • Swift 6.2+ (for building from source)

If you use the packaged app from Releases, no separate runtime is required.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.