Split Book Scan
Cut a scan with two book pages a sheet into single pages — you place the line.
Split Book Scan cuts a scan that has two book pages on every sheet into single pages, in reading order, on your own device. You set where the cut goes: the line starts at the middle of the sheet, you can drag it or type it, a button will suggest the darkest column near the middle of page 1 for you to check, and any sheet that is really a single page — a cover, an end paper — can be left whole. Left-to-right is the default; right-to-left is one choice away for a Hebrew, Arabic or manga book. Each half is rendered from the sheet and written as a JPEG image page, so text on the result is not selectable until you run OCR PDF.
Split Book Scan cuts a scan that has two book pages on every sheet into single pages, in reading order — free, in your browser, with no account. The file is processed on your device and is not uploaded. You place the cut line and see it on a real page before anything is cut.
How to split book scan — steps & common uses
What people use Split Book Scan for
People who scanned or photographed a bound book two pages at a time and need one page per page before they can read, search or print it.
- Turn a photographed book spread into one page per page
- Split a two-up scan before running OCR on it
- Separate a manga or Hebrew book into pages that read the right way
- Cut a scanned magazine spread without splitting its cover
- Prepare a two-up scan for reading on a phone
How to split book scan
- Drop the scan in. Page 1 is drawn with a cut line down the middle of the sheet.
- Drag the line into the book's gutter, or move the slider — the position is printed as a percentage of the width. “Suggest the line from page 1” moves it to the darkest column near the middle for you to check; it never cuts on its own.
- Untick any sheet that is a single page already, such as a cover or an end paper, and give any sheet its own line if its gutter sits elsewhere.
- Choose left-page-first (most books) or right-page-first (Hebrew, Arabic, manga), then download one PDF with the halves in reading order.
Good to know: You set the gutter line and see it before anything is cut; each half is written as an image page.
Questions about Split Book Scan 6
Are my files uploaded to a server?
No. UnboundPDF processes PDFs locally in the browser — documents are not uploaded to a server. We have no backend that receives, stores, or scans your files.
Does it find the gutter by itself?
It offers a suggestion and shows it to you. The suggestion is the darkest column within a window around the middle of page 1 — the shadow a bound book casts in its gutter — and that is all it is: the minimum of a luminance profile. It moves the line so you can look at it, it never cuts on its own, and when no column stands out it says so and leaves the line where you put it.
Will the text on the result still be selectable?
No. Each half is rendered from the sheet and written as a JPEG image page, so the output is image pages — as the scan already was. If you need selectable text, run OCR PDF on the result.
My book reads right to left. Can it handle that?
Yes. Choose right-page-first and the two halves of each sheet come out in that order. It only swaps the halves within a sheet; the order of the sheets themselves is never changed.
The first sheet is the cover and is a single page. What happens to it?
Untick “Don't split” on that sheet in the review strip and it is carried into the output whole, in its own place in the sequence. Any sheet can be left whole, not only the first.
The gutter is not in the middle on every sheet. Can I fix that?
Each sheet on the review strip has its own gutter control. Move it and that sheet keeps its own line; the document-wide slider then leaves that sheet alone.
Read more
How your files are handled
The work runs on your own device, inside the browser tab — so there is no server to send your document to.
- Nothing is uploaded. We have no backend that receives or stores documents, so we cannot see your files during processing or after.
- Your device does the work. Large documents are handled in stages, pages are rendered as you reach them, and each job is checked against your device before it starts — so a long run takes longer on a phone than on a laptop, nothing is queued behind other people's jobs, and you can stop a run at any point without touching your original file.
- No account and no watermark. The output is a clean file you can use anywhere, with no sign-up and no hourly cap.
More organize tools
Other free PDF utilities that work the same way — in your browser, no sign-up.