Split a two-up book scan — one sheet, two pages, the line where you put it
Updated 28 August 2026
Split Book Scan cuts scans that carry two book pages per sheet into single pages in reading order. The cut line starts at the centre and is yours to move — a suggestion can find the gutter shadow on page 1, but it moves the line, never cuts on its own. Left-first or right-first reading order; per-sheet don't-split for covers; the output is image pages, stated before the run.
Split 2-up book scans into single pages in your browser: a movable gutter line, right-to-left reading order supported, covers left whole — image pages out.
UnboundPDF is a free suite of 53 PDF and image tools that run entirely in your browser — merge, split, compress, edit text, OCR in 126 languages, redact, sign, convert and archive to PDF/A. Your document is read and written by the page on your own device; there is no document-upload endpoint in the core tools, no account, no watermark and no daily cap. Every result can be checked — with the Network tab, or with the Document Passport the Workspace writes for a chain of steps.
- Open Split Book Scan and add the scanned PDF; the cut line appears over page 1 at the centre.
- Move the line to the gutter (or take the suggestion — it moves the line so you can see it, never cuts on its own); mark covers as don't-split.
- Pick left-page-first or right-page-first and download single pages in reading order.
Open Split Book Scan, put the line in the gutter, download single pages. The line is yours: the suggestion finds the shadow a bound book casts, but it only ever moves the line where you can see it.
Why book scans come out 2-up
A book on a flatbed photographs two pages at once — every home-scanned book, most library PDFs. Reading them means panning across each sheet; printing them means shrunken spreads. Splitting down the gutter restores the book's own pages.
The craft is the gutter
One straight cut per sheet, at a line you place — with a per-sheet override where the binding drifted. The suggestion reads the darkest column near the centre of page 1 (a bound book's gutter shadow); where the profile is flat it says so instead of guessing.
After the split
The pages are images, as the scan was — OCR makes them searchable, Deskew straightens the crooked ones, Compress tames the size. For a born-digital book with bookmarks, Split by Bookmarks is the right tool instead.
Frequently asked questions
My book reads right to left.
Pick right-page-first — Hebrew, Arabic and manga books split with the halves swapped within each sheet, so reading order comes out correct.
What does the output contain?
Image pages — each half is the original raster, cropped. Stated before the run and after; run OCR next if the text should be searchable.
The first sheet is a single cover.
Toggle don't-split on that sheet in the review strip; it passes through whole.