How do I edit PDF Instructions?

[Nemesis84]

Hey everyone.

Hope this is in the right section. I have recently started getting serious with using Bricklink Studio and using the instruction maker. What I'm struggling with is how to edit the PDF afterwards. More specifically how to split the PDF into smaller sections (part 1, part 2 etc). I know there are some fantastic videos on Youtube that cover using many of the features in Studio but have not found anything on this so anything that is offered is greatly appreciated 

Edited March 12, 2022 by Nemesis84
spelling

[ExeSandbox]

Hi,

I've used Studio's instruction maker on many occasions but haven't come across a feature that lets you split the instructions in two. However, one way I could think of would be to only break down half the model in the step editor, then bunch all the parts of the remaining half into the last step. In the page editor, you can find some ways to hide the last step either by resizing the graphics to 1% or covering them with a plain colored image. After exporting, you can do the same thing with the remaining half except in reverse. (Doesn't necessarily need to be in half)

This method is a bit fiddly but I think it should work if you're working solely with Studio. I would prefer to export as .png and then assemble them in some other editor though. 

[JopieK]

You can use programs like Adobe Acrobat for that or even free tools.

[deraven]

If you're on a Mac, just open the PDF in Preview, select the pages you want, and drag them to the desktop or a folder and it'll create a new PDF with just those pages.  Or on any platform, if you can "print" or save to a PDF, just "print" for example pages 1-50 to a PDF and then 51-100 to another PDF.

If you're wanting to do something more complex (pulling out submodels, adding directions or arrows, etc.) you'd need to do some of that by breaking down the model in Studio as mentioned above, and/or with a proper layout and editing program since PDFs aren't like Word docs and are meant to be more the final output.

[Nemesis84]

Hey thanks for the reply's

Unfortunately I'm on a Windows laptop. Not the end of the world. I had a feeling I couldn't do it in Studio. So far the only set of instructions I have finished the file size is too large for the free PDF editors so I may have to bite the bullet and pay for Adobe. I was planning on simply separating the build into smaller sections i.e. Ground floor in first part and first floor in second part. 

thank you for the advice

[BrickRandom]

You can also export the PDF instsructions in parts straight from Stud.io. On the export page, simply select the pages you wish to print. Do for example page 1 - 50 first and then to a seperate export for pages 51 - 100, for example.

That is the method I used for my most recent instructions, see here for the result: instructions in two parts. No PDF editors used for this.

[jus1973]

On 3/13/2022 at 5:30 AM, Nemesis84 said:

Hey thanks for the reply's

Unfortunately I'm on a Windows laptop. Not the end of the world. I had a feeling I couldn't do it in Studio. So far the only set of instructions I have finished the file size is too large for the free PDF editors so I may have to bite the bullet and pay for Adobe. I was planning on simply separating the build into smaller sections i.e. Ground floor in first part and first floor in second part. 

thank you for the advice

On windows, simply use PDFSAM.  Free download and splitting at a given page is included in the free, basic version

https://pdfsam.org/pdfsam-basic/

 

[waterflik]

Thanks for the tips. I have a similar question, and the free tools I’ve tried can’t handle large PDF files.

[FGMatt]

On 11/17/2025 at 10:57 AM, waterflik said:

Thanks for the tips. I have a similar question, and the free tools I’ve tried can’t handle large PDF files.

Have you tried SmallPDF? It works pretty well for large files in my experience; the free version is just limited to a number of operations per day.