# How to Split a PDF by Custom Page Selections in Google Colab

With Python, PyMuPDF, and Google Colab, you can easily extract specific pages from a PDF and save them as a new PDF. This is useful when you need to extract individual chapters, sections, or selected pages.

## 1\. Install PyMuPDF

Run this cell first:

```python
%pip install -q -U pymupdf
```

## 2\. Upload your PDF

Import Google Colab's file upload tool and select your PDF:

```python
from google.colab import files
uploaded = files.upload()

if not uploaded:
  raise ValueError("No PDF was uploaded.")

input_pdf = next(iter(uploaded))
```

## 3\. Open the PDF

Import PyMuPDF and open the uploaded file:

```python
import pymupdf
doc = pymupdf.open(input_pdf)
```

> **Note:** PyMuPDF uses zero-based page indexing.
> 
> Page 1 = index 0
> 
> Page 2 = index 1
> 
> Page 3 = index 2

## 4\. Select the pages to extract

Specify the pages you want to extract.

For example, this selects pages 1, 3, and 5:

```python
pages = [0, 2, 4]
```

## 5\. Create a new PDF

Create a new PDF and copy the selected pages into it:

```python
output = pymupdf.open()

for page_number in pages:
  output.insert_pdf(
      doc,
      from_page=page_number,
      to_page=page_number

)

output.save("selected_pages.pdf")

output.close()

doc.close()
```

## 6\. Download the new PDF

Once the PDF has been created, download it to your computer:

```python
files.download("selected_pages.pdf")
```

## Complete Example

```python
%pip install -q -U pymupdf

from google.colab import files
uploaded = files.upload()

if not uploaded:
  raise ValueError("No PDF was uploaded.")

input_pdf = next(iter(uploaded))

import pymupdf
doc = pymupdf.open(input_pdf)

pages = [0, 2, 4]

output = pymupdf.open()

for page_number in pages:
  output.insert_pdf(
      doc,
      from_page=page_number,
      to_page=page_number

)

output.save("selected_pages.pdf")

output.close()

doc.close()

files.download("selected_pages.pdf")
```

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## Open the notebook

Open the Google Colab notebook for this PDF mini-guide and run the code as you follow along.

\[[Open in Google Colab](https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1BDarKRMjsGxSd3qu5RKZeG70nSi6gFIE?usp=sharing)\]

* * *

*This mini-guide was originally published on* [***PDF Python Hub***](https://payhip.com/PDFPythonHub)*, where you can find more in-depth Python resources for working with PDFs.*

* * *

## More PDF Python Resources

Want to learn how to Split a PDF into Separate PDF Pages in Google Colab?

Check out this mini-guide: [How to Split a PDF into Separate PDF Pages in Google Colab.](https://payhip.com/PDFPythonHub/blog/news/how-to-split-a-pdf-into-separate-pdf-pages-in-google-colab)