Split a large PDF into thirds on a Mac

I have been looking for a way to take a 412 page PDF on my Mac and split it roughly into thirds. The googling that I have done suggests that you copy individual pages onto your desktop, and then combine them all using Preview, but doing this with 136 pages seems like a terrible idea.

The alternate method I have seen is to "Print to PDF" but print selected page ranges. This seems like a doable method, but many of the pages in the front of the PDF do not have page numbers, also, the "Save to PDF" in the print dialog does not have the option to select a page range on Sierra!

What am I missing? How does one split a large PDF into chunks on a Mac?

Solution 1:

I suggest you use free app PDFSam. This app is for splitting large PDFs into smaller segments. This should solve your problems. The app can be downloaded here

Solution 2:

in Preview show side thumbnails - select - shift select your range - cut or copy - file - new from clipboard -save - done

Solution 3:

Just tested in macOS Sierra:

1. Open the PDF in Preview.
2. Press ⌘P or click: File > Print…
3. Click the Show Details button. (If necessary).
4. Set the page range in: Pages: From: [] to: []
5. Click: PDF > Save as PDF…
6. Etc. Repeat as needed.

This will save the set page range, regardless whether the pages are numbered or not.